Does Sleep Deprivation Really Work for Depression?

Sleep deprivation can have a rapid antidepressant effect, but depression usually returns with recovery sleep. In patients with bipolar depression, even one night's loss of sleep can induce mania. To learn more, these researchers randomized 49 patients with bipolar depression (mean baseline score on the 19-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression [HRSD], 19) to combination pharmacotherapy alone or with chronotherapy.

Pharmacotherapy consisted of lithium plus sertraline. Other mood stabilizers and antidepressants could be substituted if the patient was intolerant. Patients receiving chronotherapy were kept awake from 9 AM on the first day until 6 PM on the following evening (night 1), when they were permitted to sleep. They were then awakened…