WPA: Sleep Disturbances Linked to Suicidal Behavior in Adults

By Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer, MedPage Today Published: April 03, 2009 Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston. Patients who toss and turn at night may be at an increased risk of suicidal behavior, researchers said. A survey of U.S. adults found that those who had trouble falling asleep, awoke in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to bed, or woke up too early were significantly more likely to contemplate, plan, or attempt suicide, said Marcin Wojnar, M.D., of the University of Michigan.

"The presence of sleep problems should alert doctors to assess patients for a heightened risk of suicide even if they don't have a psychiatric condition," Dr. Wojnar said.

The findings were presented at the World Psychiatric Association meeting in Florence, Italy.

In the latest study, researchers found a consistent link between early waking and all three suicidal behaviors. Patients with sleeping problems were twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts in the preceding 12 months as those with no sleep troubles. They were also 2.1 times and 2.7 times more likely to report planning or attempting suicide, respectively.

There was also a relationship between difficulty falling asleep and suicide, with a 1.9-fold increased risk of suicidal ideas and 2.2-fold risk of suicidal planning.

Finally, those who tossed and turned in the middle of the night were twice as likely to have contemplated suicide and three times more likely to have attempted it.

The researchers said their results were adjusted for factors known to influence suicide, including substance abuse, depression, anxiety disorders, and chronic medical conditions such as stroke, heart disease, and cancer.