Rapid and sustained antidepressant response with sleep deprivation and chronotherapy in bipolar disorder.

Background: The development of a rapid-acting and sustainable treatment for bipolar disorder (BPD) depression has been a goal for decades. The most widely documented rapid-onset antidepressant therapy is sleep deprivation (SD), which acts within 24-48 hours in 40%-60% of depressed patients. Conventional antidepressants usually require 2-8 weeks to meet response criteria.

Sleep deprivation PET correlations of Hamilton symptom improvement ratings with changes in relative glucose metabolism in patients with depression.

Background: This PET study is a continuing investigation of the effects of antidepressant medication and one night of total sleep deprivation on cerebral metabolism in depressed patients. This study was undertaken to confirm previous correlations between symptom improvement ratings and regional changes in glucose metabolism, using a higher resolution scanner than in previous investigations. In addition, we also studied the effect of concomitant antidepressant medication in conjunction with sleep depression.