HYPNOTICS IN THE TREATMENT OF PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Chronic insomnia is among the most common symptoms during a major depressive episode (MDE), and the symptom of insomnia independently predicts poor quality of life (QOL), increased risk of suicide, and increased risk for recurrence of MDE. In contrast, preliminary evidence suggests that treatment of insomnia during MDE reduces the daytime symptom burden and improves QOL. Hypnotic medications (sleeping pills) are prescribed more commonly for psychiatric problems than for any other disorder, and this is not surprising since many of the newest antidepressants have little or no intrinsic sleep-inducing effect and may require that a hypnotic be prescribed along with the antidepressant. However, little is known about the efficacy and safety of combining the most commonly used antidepressant and hypnotic medications. This exploratory/development grant (R34 mechanism) will operationalize treatment of insomnia associated with MDE, will support the development of data-gathering methods for the proposed outcomes of interest, shall test the feasibility of recruiting and retaining participants, and shall provide estimates of effect sizes for adding a hypnotic medication to an antidepressant in depressed patients with insomnia.