Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Italy discovered common patterns of sleep abnormalities and irregularities in the daily rhythms of rest and activity in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder, or SSD.
The findings were published in Molecular Psychiatry. The researchers found that both people with SSD who lived in psychiatric hospitals and those who managed their condition in outpatient settings had irregular sleep patterns, erratic transitions between sleep and wake cycles, and overly rigid daily routines. which were predictive of worse SSD symptoms and correlated with lower Quality of life.
“Regulating sleep and wake cycles is important for your overall health and our findings can be extended to people without underlying mental health conditions,” said Fabio Ferrarelli, MD, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and senior author of the study. Is.”
“Most people can benefit from better sleep hygiene and attention to their daily routine by incorporating activity and variety into their daily lives.” suggests that people with SSD have trouble sleeping and get worse rest than people without the mental health condition. In addition, sedative medications used to manage SSD symptoms are known to alter sleep and increase the amount of time that patients rest up to 15 hours per day.
Ferrelli says that too much sleep can have a negative effect on patients’ SSD symptoms. “It’s important to note that the drugs we prescribe to patients affect their health more broadly,” he said. “Our study suggests that 12- to 15-hour sleep may be harmful, and it is important to avoid overdosing on sedative drugs and to use the lowest possible dose.”
In a study of 250 participants, including nearly 150 residential and outpatient SSD patients, representing one of the largest groups in published studies on sleep and SSD, researchers measured participants’ activity and asked them to rest throughout the day and night. Told to wear a wristband. Detects speed and acceleration.
The scientists did not track brain waves during sleep or differentiate between different stages of sleep — such as REM sleep and deep sleep — something they plan to do in a future study. Still, the results were strong and consistent.
They found that both residential and outpatient SSD individuals spent fewer active hours during the day and more time sleeping or passively resting than healthy controls.
In addition, residential patients had more fragmented sleep and more abrupt transitions between rest and activity than the outpatient group. Residential patients also displayed more rigid rhythms of daily rest and activity than outpatients, and those measures were correlated with a greater degree of negative mental health symptoms, including decreased motivation to interact with others and decreased happiness. The blunt ability to feel is involved.
“The consistency between the two patient cohorts was somewhat surprising to us,” Farrelly said. “But, interestingly, we found that residential patients had more stable routines. We think of stable routines as a good thing, but when these routines become too rigid, they can present a problem.
In our study, this rigidity in the daily rhythm was strongly related to the severity of negative mental health symptoms in residential patients with schizophrenia. Researchers say it may not be possible to use markers of disrupted sleep to diagnose SSD because symptoms overlap with other mental health conditions, such as dementia. But making changes to your daily routine and changing the pace in your life can help. There are two simple steps everyone can take to improve and protect their brain health.” Especially as people get older, we tend to get deeper into our routines,” Farrelly said.
“Routines provide a sense of control to our lives and can be very beneficial. But if a routine is too rigid, it can backfire. Keeping a consistent sleep schedule is a great way to add variety to your schedule and improve your health in the long run.”