Nightmares, suicide attempts, and melancholic features in patients with unipolar major depression

Abstract Objectives Recently, there has been a growing interest in the relationship between sleep disturbances and suicidality in major depression. Sleep disturbances are one of the ‘modifiable risks’ for suicide in major depression. The present study examines whether there is a relationship among n...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of affective disorders 2007-03, Vol.98 (3), p.267-270
Main Authors: Agargun, Mehmet Yucel, Besiroglu, Lutfullah, Cilli, Ali Savas, Gulec, Mustafa, Aydin, Adem, Inci, Rifat, Selvi, Yavuz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Aged
Biological and medical sciences
Depression
Depressive Disorder - diagnosis
Depressive Disorder - epidemiology
Depressive Disorder - psychology
Depressive Disorder, Major - diagnosis
Depressive Disorder, Major - epidemiology
Depressive Disorder, Major - psychology
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Disorders of higher nervous function. Focal brain diseases. Central vestibular syndrome and deafness. Brain stem syndromes
Dreams - psychology
Female
Humans
Insomnia
Male
Medical sciences
Melancholic features
Middle Aged
Mood disorders
Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes)
Neurology
Nightmares
Prevalence
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Severity of Illness Index
Suicide
Suicide, Attempted - psychology
Suicide, Attempted - statistics & numerical data
Surveys and Questionnaires
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Summary:Abstract Objectives Recently, there has been a growing interest in the relationship between sleep disturbances and suicidality in major depression. Sleep disturbances are one of the ‘modifiable risks’ for suicide in major depression. The present study examines whether there is a relationship among nightmares, suicide attempts, and melancholic features in unipolar major depressed patients. Methods One hundred (49 males and 51 females) depressed patients with melancholic features and 49 (23 males and 26 females) patients without melancholic features were included in the study. All patients were classified as those who attempted suicide at least once during current depressive episode and as those who never attempted. Results Melancholic attempters had higher rates of nightmares, middle, and terminal insomnia than melancholic non-attempters. There was no significant difference between non-melancholic patients with and without suicidal attempts in terms of the frequency of all types of insomnia and nightmares. Limitations: This study does not have polysomnographic records for sleep variables. Conclusions Feeling worse in the morning than later in the day may be related to the intervening dream content and affect and predict suicidal tendency. Melancholia may be associated with increased risk of suicide attempts due to repetitive and frightening dreams.
ISSN:0165-0327
1573-2517
DOI:10.1016/j.jad.2006.08.005