When night falls fast: Sleep and suicidal behavior among adolescents and young adults

Sleep disturbances have been linked to suicidal ideation and behaviors in adolescents. Specifically, insomnia and nightmares are associated with current suicide risk and predict future ideation. Associations between hypersomnia, sleep apnea, and suicide remain inconclusive. Potential biological mechanisms underlying these relationships include executive functioning deficits and hyperarousal. Related psychological factors may include thwarted belongingness, perceived […]

Subjective and objective sleep and circadian parameters as predictors of depression-related outcomes: A machine learning approach in UK Biobank

Background Sleep and circadian disruption are associated with depression onset and severity, but it is unclear which features (e.g., sleep duration, chronotype) are important and whether they can identify individuals showing poorer outcomes. Methods Within a subset of the UK Biobank with actigraphy and mental health data (n = 64,353), penalised regression identified the most useful of 51 sleep/rest-activity predictors of […]

Sleep disorders and suicide attempts following discharge from residential treatment

Introduction: Suicide is a significant public health concern and its prevention remains a top clinical priority of the Veterans Health Administration. Periods of transition in care (e.g., moving from inpatient to outpatient care) represent a period of increased risk. Sleep disorders are prevalent amongst Veterans and are modifiable risk factor for suicide. The present study examined […]

Nightmares in borderline personality disorder: Narrative review

BACKGROUND: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) patients commonly suffer from nightmares. Still, the prevalence of this issue does not match the little clinical attention it usually receives. Nightmares impact sleep and daily functioning and may play a role in BPD symptomatology, including suicidality. Since BPD has been linked with high rates of suicide, the potential connection […]

Presence and persistence of sleep-related symptoms and suicidal ideation in psychiatric inpatients

Background: Although sleep is an important risk factor for suicidal behavior, research has yet to examine the association between sleep problems and suicidality across the course of inpatient treatment. This study examined the relationship among sleep-related symptoms and suicidal ideation across inpatient treatment. Aims: To examine whether poor sleep at admission longitudinally predicts less improvement in suicidal ideation […]

Sleep deprivation and insomnia in adolescence: Implications for mental health

Sleep changes significantly throughout the human lifespan. Physiological modifications in sleep regulation, in common with many mammals (especially in the circadian rhythms), predispose adolescents to sleep loss until early adulthood. Adolescents are one-sixth of all human beings and are at high risk for mental diseases (particularly mood disorders) and self-injury. This has been attributed to […]

Sleep continuity, timing, quality, and disorder are associated with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among college students

Objective: To evaluate sleep continuity, timing, quality, and disorder in relation to suicidal ideation and attempts among college students. Participants: Eight hundred eighty-five undergraduates aged 18-25 in the southwestern United States. Methods: Participants completed questionnaires on sleep, suicide risk, mental health, and substance use. Differences in sleep variables were compared by lifetime and recent suicidal ideation and suicide attempts using […]

Inferring sleep disturbance from text messages of suicide attempt survivors: A pilot study

Objective Identifying digital markers of sleep disturbance—a known suicide risk factor—may aid in the detection of imminent suicide risk. This study examined sleep-related communication and texting patterns in personal text messages (N = 86,705) of suicide attempt survivors. Method Twenty-six participants provided dates of past suicide attempts and 2-week periods of positive mood, depressed mood, or suicidal […]

Suicidal ideation, depression, and insomnia in parent survivors of suicide: Based on Korean psychological autopsy of adolescent suicides

Background: This study aims to evaluate suicidal ideation, depression, and insomnia among parent survivors of adolescents who died by suicide and their relevant risk factors using psychological autopsy results from South Korea. Methods: The participants were 42 parent survivors (10 fathers and 32 mothers) of 35 adolescents who died by suicide. We used the Patient […]

Objective sleep markers of suicidal behaviors in patients with psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Close relationships have been reported between sleep alterations and suicidal behaviors, nevertheless few studies used objective measures of sleep. Such objective markers would be interesting in clinical practice to better screen and prevent suicide. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies examining the relationship between sleep markers and suicidal behaviors using PubMed, Cochrane […]

Sleep loss suicidal ideation: The role of trait extraversion

Background: It is known that sleep disturbance is associated with increased suicidal thinking. Moreover, completed suicides, when adjusted for the proportion of the populace that is awake at a given time, are more probable during the late night/early morning hours. Despite these concerns, no studies have examined the role of trait-like individual differences in vulnerability to […]

Internet searches for “insomnia” and “suicide” mediated by stay-at-home behaviors in 45 countries during the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic

Background This study aimed to investigate (1) the mental health impacts (i.e., insomnia and suicide ideas) of the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) the mediation effects of stay-at-home levels on those impacts. Methods This study investigated monthly national COVID-19 deaths, stay-at-home levels, and internet searches for words for “insomnia” and “suicide” across 45 countries during the […]

Psychosis and hopelessness mediate the relationship between reduced sleep and suicidal ideation in schizophrenia spectrum disorders

Objective: Suicide is a major cause of death amongst individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD). Despite numerous risk factors being identified, accurate prediction of suicidality and provision of tailored and effective treatment is difficult. One factor that may warrant particular attention as a contributor to increased psychopathology and suicidality in SSD is disturbed sleep. Sleep disturbances […]

Defeat and entrapment mediate the relationship between insomnia symptoms and suicidal ideation in young adults

Aim In recent years, there has been a growing interest in understanding the relationship between sleep disturbance and suicide. The current study aimed to advance understanding of the psychological processes driving these relationships by examining whether insomnia symptoms are related to suicidal ideation via perceptions of defeat and entrapment. Methods Young adults (n = 259; 202 students […]

The experience of pain is strongly associated with poor sleep quality and increased risk for suicide

Objective Effective suicide prevention is hindered by a limited understanding of the neurobiology leading to suicide. We aimed to examine the association between changes in the experience of pain and disturbances in sleep quantity and quality in patients with elevated risk for suicide. Methods Three groups of adult depressed individuals, including patients following a recent […]

Association among early life stress, mood features, hopelessness and suicidal risk in bipolar disorder: The potential contribution of insomnia symptoms

Aim The study aimed to investigate the potential pathways mediating early exposure to stressful events and the clinical manifestations of bipolar disorder (BD), such as severity of mood symptoms, hopelessness and suicidal ideation, focusing on the potential role of insomnia symptoms. Method A sample of 162 adult participants with BD I or II were assessed during depressed phase […]

The dynamic relationship between alpha and beta power and next-day suicidal Ideation in Individuals with treatment-resistant depression

Background Nocturnal wakefulness has emerged as a potential predictor of short-term suicide risk. This analysis used dynamic temporal patterns in alpha and beta power and global sleep metrics to explore the possible link between next-day suicidal ideation (NDSI) and wakefulness measures in unmedicated participants with treatment-resistant depression. Methods Thirty-three medication-free participants with treatment-resistant depression completed overnight polysomnography. Alpha […]

Does insomnia increase the risk of suicide in hospitalized patients with major depressive disorder? A nationwide inpatient analysis from 2006 to 2015

Introduction. Insomnia is an important symptom associated with major depressive disorder (MDD). In addition, it is one of the risk factors for suicide. Studies have shown the relationship be-tween insomnia and suicidal behavior in patients with MDD. However, this association has not been evaluated in a large sample of hospitalized patients. Objectives. To evaluate the suicidal be-havior in […]

The trajectories and associations of eveningness and insomnia with daytime sleepiness, depression and suicidal ideation in adolescents: A 3-year longitudinal study

Background: Eveningness and insomnia are highly comorbid and closely related to psychopathology in adolescents. We aimed to prospectively investigate the trajectories and associations of eveningness and insomnia with daytime functioning, depression and suicidal risk in adolescents. Methods: A 3-year longitudinal study was conducted among 414 Chinese adolescents. The associations of eveningness and insomnia with daytime functioning, depression […]

Insomnia symptom severity is associated with increased suicidality and death by suicide in a sample of patients with psychiatric disorders

Study objectives: Insomnia is a risk factor for suicidal behavior including attempts and death by suicide. We investigated whether insomnia symptom severity was associated with suicidality and death by suicide in patients with psychiatric disorders. Methods: The sample included 180 deceased patients with psychiatric disorders seen at Weber Human Services between 2008 and 2018 who completed the […]

Suicidal ideation and insomnia in bipolar disorders

Objective: Bipolar disorder (BD) confers elevated suicide risk and associates with misaligned circadian rhythm. Real-time monitoring of objectively measured sleep is a novel approach to detect and prevent suicidal behavior. We aimed at understanding associations between subjective insomnia and actigraphy data with severity of suicidal ideation in BDs. Methods: This prospective cohort study comprised 76 […]

Shared correlates of prescription drug misuse and severe suicide ideation among clinical patients at risk for suicide.

Objective: Unintentional drug overdose and suicide have emerged as public health problems. Prescription drug misuse can elevate risk of overdose. Severe suicidal ideation increases risk of suicide. We identified shared correlates of both risk factors to inform cross-cutting prevention efforts. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using the Military Suicide Research Consortium’s Common Data Elements […]

Association of poor subjective sleep quality with risk for death by suicide during a 10-year period: A longitudinal, population-based study of late life

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relative independent risk for suicide associated with poor subjective sleep quality in a population-based study of older adults during a 10-year observation period. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A longitudinal case-control cohort study of late-life suicide among a multisite, population-based community sample of older adults participating in the Established Populations for Epidemiologic […]