Co-occurence of Disturbed Sleep and Appetite Loss Differentiates Between Unipolar and Bipolar Depressive Episodes

The aim of this study was to examine whether the co-occurrence of disturbed sleep & appetite loss can differentiate the clinical expression of depressive episodes between 40 bipolar & 40 unipolar patients. Other variables studied were gender, age & suicidal ideation. Results indicate that sleep disturbance does not differentiate between bipolar & unipolar patients. Apetite loss is more closely related to sleep disturbance among bipolar patients than unipolar patients. A majority of these patients reported suicidal ideation. (27 refs) (SC)