Insomnia and paranoia

On any given night one in three people will have difficulties getting to or staying asleep and for one in ten people this can occur several nights a week. Lack of sleep can lead to anxiety, sadness and irritability and a new study by researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry in London has found that it can also lead to paranoia. The study found that people with insomnia were five times more likely to have high levels of paranoid thinking than people who were sleeping well. Further research by the team found that over half the individuals attending psychiatric services for severe paranoia were found to have clinical insomnia. In a vicious cycle insomnia can make people feel more anxious and fearful leading them to get a worse night's sleep. Cognitive behaviour therapy has been found to be effective in helping people sleep better and can get the sleep-mood cycle moving in a more positive direction.

You can find out more about this research by clicking on the title of this post.