ABSTRACT

Sleep disturbances normally are not a prominent feature of obsessive compulsive disorder. However, it is evident that obsessive compulsive disorder is a brain disease. Disorder in the regulation of serotonergic system causing abnormal brain function has an important role. Serotonergic system plays also an important role in the regulation of sleep. However, there are limited number of studies conducted in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder. Thus, in this study it was aimed to investigate the sleep structure of patients with obsessive compulsive disorder. Six patients with a DSMIII- R diagnosis for obsessive compulsive disorder without any drug use for at least 2 weeks were studied with respect to polysomnography for two consecutive nights. Their sleep variables were compared with 6 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Obsessive compulsive patients exhibited only significantly decreased sleep period time. There were no significant disturbances in slow wave sleep or rapid eye movement (REM) sleep variables. There were no significant differences between the groups regarding sleep architecture. The results of the present study demonstrate that underlying neurobiological abnormalities in obsessive compulsive disorder do not significantly affect macroscopic sleep structure of the patients.