Virtual patients, medical records and sleep queries may help reduce suicide
Insomnia rates are on the rise in this country with ever-present light and communication as key intruders on this very basic biological function, McCall said. Suicide rates also are on the rise as a major cause of death in the world, moving from 14th to 13th in global death rates from 1990 to 2010, according to the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors Study 2010 ranking causes of death in nearly 200 countries.
“Insomnia can lead to a very specific type of hopelessness, and hopelessness by itself is a powerful predictor of suicide,” said study researcher Dr. W. Vaughn McCall, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior at Georgia Health Sciences University in Augusta.
While the factors that contribute to suicide risk are not the same for everyone, “For some patients, I think sleep problems are part of the [symptom] profile,” McCall said.
During the study, McCall and colleagues surveyed 50 depressed people ages 20 to 84, some of whom were in the hospital. Nearly every patient was taking some type of psychiatric medication, and 56 percent had attempted suicide at least once.
The study participants were surveyed to assess their degree of insomnia and suicidal thinking, as well as whether they experienced nightmares or unhealthy beliefs about sleep.
The study found a link between insomnia and suicidal thinking: The more severe a person’s insomnia was, the more likely he or she was to express suicidal thoughts and desires. However, when the researches took into account whether or not individuals experienced frequent nightmares or unhealthy beliefs about sleep, the link disappeared. This indicates the two factors - nightmares and unhealthy beliefs about sleep - play a role in the link.
Meanwhile, other largely preventable deaths such as infections from unclean water and lack of vaccinations, have mostly taken a nose dive.
“‘While we as a world population are successfully impacting infectious diseases and reducing their impact on world mortality, essentially nothing has been done about suicide so it correspondingly moves up,” McCall said. “It will never get better if we can’t even talk about it.”
Research linking insomnia to an increased suicide risk has been extended to those without psychiatric illness. Previous studies have shown the association among the mentally ill and teenagers, but a new study suggests they are not the only populations at risk.
This latest research was presented by lead investigator Marcin Wojnar at the World Psychiatric Association International Congress in Italy. It examined the relationship between sleep problems and suicidal behaviors among 5,692 subjects. About a third of these individuals reported symptoms of insomnia over the previous year, including difficulty falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, or waking at least two hours earlier than desired. People with two or more of these symptoms were 2.6 times more likely to report a suicide attempt.
In particular, waking up too early seemed to convey the highest risk, with twice as many suicidal thoughts or plans and nearly three times as many suicide attempts. The underlying mechanism for this risk is unknown, but it may relate to poor judgment and cognitive function in the setting of decreased sleep or due to altered brain chemicals such as serotonin. This latest research does remind us to identify mood disorders, including risk of suicide, among those who suffer from insomnia.
###
Toni Baker
Communications Director
Medical College of Georgia
Georgia Regents University
706-721-4421 Office
706-825-6473 Cell
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)