Insomnia, Depression, and the Potential Treatment

Previous research on insomnia and depression explores the link between the two, but it does not address the issue of treatment. This is why this research is innovative as it offers a potential means for suicide prevention. Usually the practice is to give antidepressants to suicidal individuals but the researchers from this study explore a different option.

The study group for this research has 103 participants, their age is between 18 to 65 years. Out of the entire study group, 30% of the individuals had an attempt at suicide. Also, people with immediate suicide plans were not part of the research group.

Two drugs are part of this trial: Zolpidem-CR (an anti-insomnia drug) and an open-label selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Besides the two drugs, there was also a placebo group. Lastly, this was an eight-week drug trial.

The participants wrote daily self-reports, they wore a wrist device to remind them about the rest and activity cycles. Also, the psychiatric staff used the Beck Hopelessness Scale every time a participant in the trial came to them.

The results of the study show that both groups display symptoms of depression equally. However, the ant-insomnia medication group displays less suicidal tendencies. Such results confirm the main hypothesis of the research. Because of these findings, the scientists believe the anti-insomnia medication can become a part of suicide prevention plans.

Other recent research on mental health includes a study on refugees with PTSD and a look at the CRISPRi method for brain disease research.