Sleep Disturbances and Psychotic Disorders
Summary
Sleep disturbances are widespread in individuals with psychotic disorders, encompassing insomnia, circadian misalignment, fragmented sleep and nightmares. Rather than mere epiphenomena, these disturbances contribute causally to the emergence and persistence of psychotic experiences such as hallucinations, delusions and paranoia. Disrupted sleep impairs emotional regulation, cognitive control and stress resilience, heightening vulnerability to psychosis. Conversely, psychotic symptoms provoke hyperarousal and irregular sleep patterns, engendering a bidirectional cycle. Recognition of sleep as a modifiable factor has stimulated research into preventative and therapeutic strategies, with global significance for early intervention, improved quality of life and broader mental health outcomes.
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Sleep Disturbances and Psychotic Disorders publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in sleep disturbances and psychotic disorders across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Insomnia: Difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep, resulting in impaired daytime function.
Psychotic-like experiences: Subclinical perceptual or belief abnormalities resembling hallucinations or delusions.
Paranoia: Unfounded or exaggerated mistrust of others, often contributing to persecutory beliefs.
Response inhibition: Cognitive control process that suppresses inappropriate or impulsive responses.
Negative affect: Broad domain of unpleasant mood states such as anxiety and sadness that mediate psychological processes.
Cognitive behavioural therapy: Structured psychological intervention aiming to modify dysfunctional thoughts and behaviours.
References
- A targeted psychological treatment for sleep problems in young people at ultra-high risk of psychosis in England (SleepWell): a parallel group, single-blind, randomised controlled feasibility trial. The Lancet Psychiatry (2023).
- Sleep and paranoia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review (2024).
- Neurocognitive consequences of adolescent sleep disruptions and their relationship to psychosis vulnerability: a longitudinal cohort study. npj Mental Health Research (2024).
About these summaries
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