Amphetamine Withdrawal: Affective State, Sleep Patterns, and MHPG Excretion
ROBERT WATSON PH.D.1,
ERNEST HARTMANN M.D.2, , and
JOSEPH J. SCHILDKRAUT M.D.3
1 Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
2 Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Tufts University, Medford, Mass., and Director, Sleep and Dream Laboratory, Boston State Hospital, Boston, Mass.
3 Director, Neuropsychopharmacology Laboratory, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Harvard Medical School, 74 Fenwood Rd., Boston, Mass. 02115
The authors found that the clinical depressions which occurred following withdrawal from amphetamines after prolonged abuse were temporally associated with a decrease in the excretion of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG), a metabolite of norepinephrine, and altered EEG sleep patterns including an increased amount of D sleep (REM sleep). As the depressions subsided, MHPG excretion increased and measures of D sleep decreased.
