Excessive sleepiness in patients with psychosis: An initial investigation.

Clinical experience indicates that excessive sleepiness and hypersomnia may be a common issue for patients with psychosis. Excessive sleepiness is typically ascribed to the sedating effects of antipsychotic medications but there may be other potential contributors such as sleep disorders and depress...

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Main Authors: Sarah Reeve, Bryony Sheaves, Daniel Freeman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0245301&type=printable
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author Sarah Reeve
Bryony Sheaves
Daniel Freeman
author_facet Sarah Reeve
Bryony Sheaves
Daniel Freeman
author_sort Sarah Reeve
collection DOAJ
description Clinical experience indicates that excessive sleepiness and hypersomnia may be a common issue for patients with psychosis. Excessive sleepiness is typically ascribed to the sedating effects of antipsychotic medications but there may be other potential contributors such as sleep disorders and depression. Furthermore, the impact of excessive sleepiness itself on patients' symptoms and general wellbeing is yet to be examined. The current study reports an exploratory cross-sectional between-groups comparison of patients with early psychosis fulfilling criteria assessed in a diagnostic interview for problematic excessive sleepiness (n = 14), compared with those not reporting excessive sleepiness (n = 46). There were no differences between the groups in diagnosis, medication type, or antipsychotic medication dosage. There were no significant group differences in sleep duration. Significantly lower activity levels were found in the excessive sleepiness group. Insomnia and nightmares were common in those reporting excessive sleepiness. No significant differences were found in psychiatric symptoms, although data did indicate more severe cognitive disorganisation and grandiosity, but less severe paranoia and hallucinations, in the excessive sleepiness group. Wide confidence intervals and small sample size mean that care should be taken interpreting these results. Overall, this study indicates that excessive sleepiness may not be solely related to medication but also to low levels of activity and other sleep disorders. This is a novel finding that, if replicated, could indicate routes of intervention for this clinical issue. Future research should aim to disentangle directions of effect amongst sleepiness, mood, activity, and psychotic symptoms and investigate possible interventions for excessive sleepiness in psychosis.
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spelling doaj-art-d2319e478b3e459d8a849f7b7e7fd9352025-08-20T02:31:40ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032021-01-01161e024530110.1371/journal.pone.0245301Excessive sleepiness in patients with psychosis: An initial investigation.Sarah ReeveBryony SheavesDaniel FreemanClinical experience indicates that excessive sleepiness and hypersomnia may be a common issue for patients with psychosis. Excessive sleepiness is typically ascribed to the sedating effects of antipsychotic medications but there may be other potential contributors such as sleep disorders and depression. Furthermore, the impact of excessive sleepiness itself on patients' symptoms and general wellbeing is yet to be examined. The current study reports an exploratory cross-sectional between-groups comparison of patients with early psychosis fulfilling criteria assessed in a diagnostic interview for problematic excessive sleepiness (n = 14), compared with those not reporting excessive sleepiness (n = 46). There were no differences between the groups in diagnosis, medication type, or antipsychotic medication dosage. There were no significant group differences in sleep duration. Significantly lower activity levels were found in the excessive sleepiness group. Insomnia and nightmares were common in those reporting excessive sleepiness. No significant differences were found in psychiatric symptoms, although data did indicate more severe cognitive disorganisation and grandiosity, but less severe paranoia and hallucinations, in the excessive sleepiness group. Wide confidence intervals and small sample size mean that care should be taken interpreting these results. Overall, this study indicates that excessive sleepiness may not be solely related to medication but also to low levels of activity and other sleep disorders. This is a novel finding that, if replicated, could indicate routes of intervention for this clinical issue. Future research should aim to disentangle directions of effect amongst sleepiness, mood, activity, and psychotic symptoms and investigate possible interventions for excessive sleepiness in psychosis.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0245301&type=printable
spellingShingle Sarah Reeve
Bryony Sheaves
Daniel Freeman
Excessive sleepiness in patients with psychosis: An initial investigation.
PLoS ONE
title Excessive sleepiness in patients with psychosis: An initial investigation.
title_full Excessive sleepiness in patients with psychosis: An initial investigation.
title_fullStr Excessive sleepiness in patients with psychosis: An initial investigation.
title_full_unstemmed Excessive sleepiness in patients with psychosis: An initial investigation.
title_short Excessive sleepiness in patients with psychosis: An initial investigation.
title_sort excessive sleepiness in patients with psychosis an initial investigation
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0245301&type=printable
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