REVIEW ARTICLE published: 12 December 2011 PSYCHIATRY doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2011.00071 Parasomnias and antidepressant therapy: a review of the literature Lara Kierlin1,2 and Michael R. Littner 1,2* 1 David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA 2 Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, USA Edited by: There exists a varying level of evidence linking the use of antidepressant medication to Ruth Benca, University of the parasomnias, ranging from larger, more comprehensive studies in the area of REM Wisconsin – Madison School of Medicine, USA sleep behavior disorder to primarily case reports in the NREM parasomnias. As such, prac- Reviewed by: tice guidelines are lacking regarding specific direction to the clinician who may be faced Ruth Benca, University of with a patient who has developed a parasomnia that appears to be temporally related to Wisconsin – Madison School of use of an antidepressant. In general, knowledge of the mechanisms of action of the med- Medicine, USA ications, particularly with regard to the impact on sleep architecture, can provide some David Plante, University of Wisconsin, USA guidance. There is a potential for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, tricyclic antide- *Correspondence: pressants, and serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors to suppress REM, as well Michael R. Littner, 10736 Des Moines as the anticholinergic properties of the individual drugs to further disturb normal sleep Avenue, Porter Ranch, Los Angeles, architecture. CA 91326, USA. e-mail:
[email protected] Keywords: parasomnias, REM sleep behavior disorder, non-REM parasomnias, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, depression INTRODUCTION and night terrors (Ohayon et al., 1999; Yeh et al., 2009).