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Q: Role Sleep Deficit has in BP
On your web page under the "Biological Clocks &
Bipolar" section, you talk about the role darkness has in the treatment
of Bipolar disorder. How does this differ from using controlled sleep
deprivation to "reset" your biological &/or psychological clock?
Has there been much research on the role sleep deficit has on Bipolar
disorder? Thanks in advance!
Dear Rebecca
--
Glad you found that. This is not really resetting the clock, as is used
for people with "phase shift" problems; but rather resetting the
sensitivity of the clock itself. We know for sure that sleep
deprivation is pro-manic, i.e. shifts people with bipolar disorder away from
depression and toward more "manic-side" symptoms, although remember
these aren't clearly "polar opposites" in most circumstances -- they
just seem to act like it here in the case of sleep effects. And clearly
some sort of sleep disturbance, though we don't know what, is integral to the
very nature of bipolar disorder, as almost everyone with this illness has
something wrong with their sleep patterns over time. You're
welcome; I know that isn't much to go on. Wish we knew more. Isn't
that clock stuff amazing, though? Dr. Phelps
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