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Psych TopicsSpecialty psychiatry — sleep medicine interface

Psych · Specialty psychiatry — sleep medicine interface

Sleep disorders in psychiatry

Also known as Insomnia disorder · CBT-I · Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia · Obstructive sleep apnoea · OSA · Hypersomnia · Narcolepsy · Circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorder · Restless legs syndrome · Hypnotics · Z-drugs · Parasomnia

Exam-exhaustive fellowship reference on sleep disorders at the psychiatry interface — DSM-5-TR/ICSD-3 insomnia and hypersomnia nosology, OSA screening and CPAP framing, circadian and parasomnia boundaries, CBT-I first-line evidence, hypnotic risk/benefit and deprescribing, psychotropic effects on sleep, and suicide-risk implications. FRANZCP-primary, globally tagged.

medium28 referencesUpdated 26 July 202614 min readVerification in progress

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Target exams

FRANZCPMRCPsychABPNMD-DNBNEET-SS

Red flags

  • Severe insomnia with active suicidal ideation, plan, or near-lethal self-harm — treat sleep and suicide risk together as psychiatric emergency
  • Excessive daytime sleepiness with near-miss or actual driving incidents — urgent fitness-to-drive assessment and hypersomnia/OSA work-up
  • Witnessed apnoeas with cyanosis, cor pulmonale, or acute hypercapnic failure — medical emergency pathway, not psychiatry alone
  • New dream-enactment behaviours (RBD) with injury risk — urgent sleep/neurology pathway; neurodegeneration counselling
  • Cataplexy-related falls or suspected untreated narcolepsy with occupational hazard
  • Hypnotic-related falls, delirium, or intentional overdose — stop agent, medical stabilisation, deprescribe long-term benzodiazepines/Z-drugs
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Practise this topic12 MCQs with explanations

Target exams

FRANZCPMRCPsychABPNMD-DNBNEET-SS

Red flags

  • Severe insomnia with active suicidal ideation, plan, or near-lethal self-harm — treat sleep and suicide risk together as psychiatric emergency
  • Excessive daytime sleepiness with near-miss or actual driving incidents — urgent fitness-to-drive assessment and hypersomnia/OSA work-up
  • Witnessed apnoeas with cyanosis, cor pulmonale, or acute hypercapnic failure — medical emergency pathway, not psychiatry alone
  • New dream-enactment behaviours (RBD) with injury risk — urgent sleep/neurology pathway; neurodegeneration counselling
  • Cataplexy-related falls or suspected untreated narcolepsy with occupational hazard
  • Hypnotic-related falls, delirium, or intentional overdose — stop agent, medical stabilisation, deprescribe long-term benzodiazepines/Z-drugs
One-line fellowship answer

Treat chronic insomnia with CBT-I first (ACP, AASM behavioural, European guidelines), screen every psychiatric patient for OSA and substances before labelling the insomnia "purely psychiatric", use hypnotics only short-term with a documented deprescribing plan, and treat insomnia and nightmares as suicide-risk amplifiers while you fix the parent diagnosis.[2][4][5][17]

Meet the patient

A 52-year-old shift worker with "treatment-resistant depression" is on her third antidepressant. She snores loudly, wakes unrefreshed at 5 a.m. every morning, has gained 8 kg on mirtazapine, and tells you she "would rather not wake up at all." Her PHQ-9 is stuck at 18.[10][12][17]

The registrar wants to switch antidepressants again. The examiner wants to know: "What have you not yet assessed, and what is your first-line treatment for the sleep complaint?"[2][10]

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References28ShowHide
  1. [1]Trauer JM, Qian MY, Doyle JS, et al. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Insomnia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Ann Intern Med, 2015.PMID 26054060
  2. [2]Qaseem A, Kansagara D, Forciea MA, et al. Management of Chronic Insomnia Disorder in Adults: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the American College of Physicians Ann Intern Med, 2016.PMID 27136449
  3. [3]Sateia MJ, Buysse DJ, Krystal AD, et al. Clinical Practice Guideline for the Pharmacologic Treatment of Chronic Insomnia in Adults: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine Clinical Practice Guideline J Clin Sleep Med, 2017.PMID 27998379
  4. [4]Edinger JD, Arnedt JT, Bertisch SM, et al. Behavioral and psychological treatments for chronic insomnia disorder in adults: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline J Clin Sleep Med, 2021.PMID 33164742
  5. [5]Riemann D, Baglioni C, Bassetti C, et al. European guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of insomnia J Sleep Res, 2017.PMID 28875581
  6. [6]Riemann D, Espie CA, Altena E, et al. The European Insomnia Guideline: An update on the diagnosis and treatment of insomnia 2023 J Sleep Res, 2023.PMID 38016484
  7. [7]Morin CM, Vallières A, Guay B, et al. Cognitive behavioral therapy, singly and combined with medication, for persistent insomnia: a randomized controlled trial JAMA, 2009.PMID 19454639
  8. [8]Baglioni C, Battagliese G, Feige B, et al. Insomnia as a predictor of depression: a meta-analytic evaluation of longitudinal epidemiological studies J Affect Disord, 2011.PMID 21300408
  9. [9]Hertenstein E, Feige B, Gmeiner T, et al. Insomnia as a predictor of mental disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis Sleep Med Rev, 2019.PMID 30537570
  10. [10]Peppard PE, Young T, Barnet JH, et al. Increased prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing in adults Am J Epidemiol, 2013.PMID 23589584
  11. [11]McEvoy RD, Antic NA, Heeley E, et al. CPAP for Prevention of Cardiovascular Events in Obstructive Sleep Apnea N Engl J Med, 2016.PMID 27571048
  12. [12]Wichniak A, Wierzbicka A, Walęcka M, et al. Effects of Antidepressants on Sleep Curr Psychiatry Rep, 2017.PMID 28791566
  13. [13]Freeman D, Sheaves B, Goodwin GM, et al. The effects of improving sleep on mental health (OASIS): a randomised controlled trial with mediation analysis Lancet Psychiatry, 2017.PMID 28888927
  14. [14]Freeman D, Waite F, Startup H, et al. Efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy for sleep improvement in patients with persistent delusions and hallucinations (BEST): a prospective, assessor-blind, randomised controlled pilot trial Lancet Psychiatry, 2015.PMID 26363701
  15. [15]Wilson SJ, Nutt DJ, Alford C, et al. British Association for Psychopharmacology consensus statement on evidence-based treatment of insomnia, parasomnias and circadian rhythm disorders J Psychopharmacol, 2010.PMID 20813762
  16. [16]Wilson S, Anderson K, Baldwin D, et al. British Association for Psychopharmacology consensus statement on evidence-based treatment of insomnia, parasomnias and circadian rhythm disorders: An update J Psychopharmacol, 2019.PMID 31271339
  17. [17]Pigeon WR, Pinquart M, Conner K Meta-analysis of sleep disturbance and suicidal thoughts and behaviors J Clin Psychiatry, 2012.PMID 23059158
  18. [18]Bernert RA, Kim JS, Iwata NG, et al. Sleep disturbances as an evidence-based suicide risk factor Curr Psychiatry Rep, 2015.PMID 25698339
  19. [19]Buysse DJ Insomnia JAMA, 2013.PMID 23423416
  20. [20]Sateia MJ International classification of sleep disorders-third edition: highlights and modifications Chest, 2014.PMID 25367475
  21. [21]Glass J, Lanctôt KL, Herrmann N, et al. Sedative hypnotics in older people with insomnia: meta-analysis of risks and benefits BMJ, 2005.PMID 16284208
  22. [22]Bassetti CLA, Adamantidis A, Burdakov D, et al. Narcolepsy - clinical spectrum, aetiopathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment Nat Rev Neurol, 2019.PMID 31324898
  23. [23]Scammell TE Narcolepsy N Engl J Med, 2015.PMID 26716917
  24. [24]Espie CA, Emsley R, Kyle SD, et al. Effect of Digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia on Health, Psychological Well-being, and Sleep-Related Quality of Life: A Randomized Clinical Trial JAMA Psychiatry, 2019.PMID 30264137
  25. [25]Morin CM, Jarrin DC Epidemiology of Insomnia: Prevalence, Course, Risk Factors, and Public Health Burden Sleep Med Clin, 2022.PMID 35659072
  26. [26]Winkelmann J, Allen RP, Högl B, et al. Treatment of restless legs syndrome: Evidence-based review and implications for clinical practice (Revised 2017) Mov Disord, 2018.PMID 29756335
  27. [27]Benjafield AV, Ayas NT, Eastwood PR, et al. Estimation of the global prevalence and burden of obstructive sleep apnoea: a literature-based analysis Lancet Respir Med, 2019.PMID 31300334
  28. [28]Monti JM The effect of second-generation antipsychotic drugs on sleep parameters in patients with unipolar or bipolar disorder Sleep Med, 2016.PMID 27692282

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