Curing insomnia in people with depression could double their chance of a full recovery, scientists are reporting.
The findings, based on an insomnia treatment that uses talk therapy rather than drugs, are the first to emerge from a series of closely watched studies of sleep and depression to be released in the coming year.
The new report affirms the results of a smaller pilot study, giving scientists confidence that the effects of the insomnia treatment are real. If the new figures hold up, they would represent the most significant advance in the treatment of depression since the introduction of Prozac in 1987.
Depression is the most common mental disorder, affecting about 18 million Americans in any given year, according to government figures, and more than half of them also have insomnia.
Experts familiar with the new report said that the results were plausible and that if supported by other studies, they should lead to major changes in treatment.
“It would be an absolute boon to the field,” said Dr. Nada L. Stotland, professor of psychiatry at Rush Medical College in Chicago, who was not connected with the latest research.
The study is the first of four about sleep and depression nearing completion, all financed by the National Institute of Mental Health. They are meant to evaluate a type of talk therapy for insomnia that is cheap, usually effective, but not currently a part of standard treatment.
The new report, from a team at Ryerson University in Toronto, found that 87 percent of patients who resolved their insomnia in four biweekly talk-therapy sessions also saw their depression symptoms dissolve after eight weeks of treatment, either with an antidepressant drug or a placebo pill – almost twice the rate of those who could not shake their insomnia. Those numbers are in line with a previous pilot study of insomnia treatment at Stanford University.
In an interview, the report’s lead author, Colleen E. Carney, said, “The way this story is unfolding, I think we need to start augmenting standard depression treatment with therapy focused on insomnia.”
Carney acknowledged that the study was small – just 66 patients – and said a clearer picture should emerge as the other teams of scientists release their results. Those studies are being done at Stanford, Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh and include about 70 subjects each.
