Disturbance of sleep is a prominent symptom in depressive disorders. Alterations of sleep patterns in depressed patients include insomnia, frequent awakenings, early wake-up and non-refreshing sleep. Polysomnographic recordings have confirmed these reports, reporting reduced latency of the first REM episode of the night, with decreased density of rapid eye movements, and enhancement of total percentage of REM sleep, a reduction of deep slow wave sleep (SWS) and increase in night awakenings (Benca et al., Classification of sleep disorders).
The effects of antidepressant drugs on depression and sleep disorders, specifically SSRIs, have been thoroughly researched. The effects of escitalopram on sleep in depressed patients have been reported using a retrospective design, and in this proposed protocol, we suggest to assess the effect of escitalopram on sleep architecture utilizing a prospective design.
Hypothesis:
Escitalopram will improve REM latency in patients with MDD that have responded clinically to treatment.
