When Night Falls Fast: Sleep and Suicidal Behavior Among Adolescents and Young Adults

Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2024 Mar;47(1):273-286. doi: 10.1016/j.psc.2023.06.017.

Abstract

Sleep disturbances have been linked to suicidal ideation and behaviors in adolescents. Specifically, insomnia and nightmares are associated with current suicide risk and predict future ideation. Associations between hypersomnia, sleep apnea, and suicide remain inconclusive. Potential biological mechanisms underlying these relationships include executive functioning deficits and hyperarousal. Related psychological factors may include thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and negative appraisals. Assessing suicide risk in patients with sleep disturbances, and vice versa, is needed. Therapeutic interventions such as cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia and imagery rehearsal treatment, as well as pharmacologic treatments, show promise in treating sleep disorders and suicidal behavior.

Keywords: Adolescent; Insomnia; Nightmares; Sleep; Suicide; Young adult.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Psychological Theory
  • Risk Factors
  • Sleep
  • Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders* / therapy
  • Suicidal Ideation
  • Suicide* / psychology
  • Young Adult