To test the hypothesis that young depressed patients have prolonged
rather than shortened sleep, 14 depressed patients aged 17-25 and age-
matched normal control subjects were allowed to sleep as long as they
wanted. All subjects increased their sleep over baseline values, but the
extended sleep period of the depressed patients was almost twice as long as
that of the control subjects. The distribution of sleep stages in the
extended period did not differ. The depressed patients had changes in the
length of REM periods similar to those of older subjects. The findings
suggest an interaction between age, sleep, and depression.
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