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June 12, 2008Poor sleep linked to suicidal behavior among children and adolescents with depressive episodes |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: A research abstract that will be presented on Thursday at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS), finds a link between poor sleep and suicidal behavior among children and adolescents with depressive episodes. The study, authored by Maria-Cecilia Lopes, MD, PhD, of Sao Paulo University in Brazil, focused on 303 individuals with pediatric bipolar disorder and pediatric unipolar disorder during depressive episodes. Poor sleep was more frequent among those with pediatric bipolar disorder and pediatric unipolar disorder, and this was clearly detected by the presence of initial insomnia and sleep maintenance insomnia. Surprisingly, there was a significant association between suicidal behavior and the presence of sleep complaints in both groups. The proportion of subjects who reported suicidal behaviors with sleep complaints was higher among bipolar than unipolar patients. The presence of sleep complaints during depressive episodes in pediatric bipolar and unipolar disorders must lead to a search for suicidal behavior, said Dr. Lopes, adding that there are clinical neurobiological issues about these findings that need to be clarified. Avoid foods or drinks that contain caffeine, as well as any medicine that has a stimulant, prior to bedtime. Set aside 10 to 30 minutes to get your child ready to go to sleep each night. Parents should consult with their child's pediatrician or a sleep specialist. The annual SLEEP meeting brings together an international body of 5,000 leading researchers and clinicians in the field of sleep medicine to present and discuss new findings and medical developments related to sleep and sleep disorders.
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