Repeated sleep deprivation as a therapeutic Zeitgeber for circular type manic depressive disturbance.

A post-menopausal woman suffering from a circular type manic depressive psychosis who had been treated by drugs was followed for 8 months on a self-reporting mood rating scale. The drug regimen was continued over a further 8 months but with the addition of 5 nights of sleep deprivation at the depth of her recurrent depressed moods. Time series analyses of the subject's longitudinal mood scores revealed a persistent cycle of 32 days. After 5 sleep deprivation treatments this cycle shortened to 28 days which endured at least for the ensuing 8 months. After sleep deprivation and decrease of the amplitude, an improvement of mood was obtained. It is suggested that the increased LD ratio obtained in sleep deprivation may be as therapeutic as the actual loss of sleep itself.