A new study found an association between insomnia symptoms and suicidal thoughts in depressed patients.

“Insomnia and nightmares, which are often confused and may go hand-in-hand, are known risk factors for suicide, but just how they contribute was unknown,” said Dr. W. Vaughn McCall, lead author and chair of the Medical College of Georgia Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior at Georgia Regents University.

The study, appearing in the February issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, involved using psychometric testing to objectively assess the mental state of 50 depressed patients ages 20-80 being treated as an inpatient, outpatient or in the Emergency Department. More than half had attempted suicide and most were taking an anti-depressant. Testing enabled the researchers to filter out other suicide risks such as depression itself and hone in on the relationship between insomnia and suicide risk, asking specific questions about dysfunctional beliefs about sleep such as: Do you think you will ever sleep again?

“It was this dysfunctional thinking, all these negative thoughts about sleep that was the mediating factor that explained why insomnia was linked to suicide,” said McCall, who specializes in depression and sleep disorders.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine considers sleep disorders an illness that has reached epidemic proportions. Board-certified sleep medicine physicians in an AASM-accredited sleep center provide effective treatment.  AASM encourages patients to talk to their doctors about sleep problems or visit www.sleepeducation.com for a searchable directory of sleep centers.