Improvement of mood and sleep alterations in posttraumatic stress disorder patients by eye movement desensitization and reprocessing
Study to investigate the effects of EMDR therapy on indices of mood, anxiety, subjective, and objective sleep.
Article Abstract
“Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients exhibit depressive and anxiety symptoms, in addition to nightmares, which interfere with sleep continuity. Pharmacologic treatment of these sleep problems improves PTSD symptoms, but very few studies have used psychotherapeutic interventions to treat PTSD and examined their effects on sleep quality. Therefore, in the present study, we sought to investigate the effects of Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing therapy on indices of mood, anxiety, subjective, and objective sleep. The sample was composed of 11 healthy controls and 13 PTSD patients that were victims of assault and/or kidnapping. All participants were assessed before, and 1 day after, the end of treatment for depressive and anxiety profile, general well-being and subjective sleep by filling out specific questionnaires. In addition, objective sleep patterns were evaluated by polysomnographic recording. Healthy volunteers were submitted to the therapy for three weekly sessions, whereas PTSD patients underwent five sessions, on average. Before treatment, PTSD patients exhibited high levels of anxiety and depression, poor quality of life and poor sleep, assessed both subjectively and objectively; the latter was reflected by increased time of waking after sleep onset. After completion of treatment, patients exhibited improvement in depression and anxiety symptoms, and in quality of life; with indices that were no longer different from control volunteers. Moreover, these patients showed more consolidated sleep, with reduction of time spent awake after sleep onset. In conclusion, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing was an effective treatment of PTSD patients and improved the associated sleep and psychological symptoms.”
—Description from publisher
Article Access
Open Access
Raboni, M. R., Alonso, F. F. D., Tufik, S., & Suchecki, D. (2014). Improvement of mood and sleep alterations in posttraumatic stress disorder patients by eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 209. Open access: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00209
Date
June 10, 2014
Creator(s)
Mara R. Raboni, Fabiana F. D. Alonso, Sergio Tufik
Contributor(s)
Deborah Suchecki
Topics
PTSD, Sleep
Extent
11 pages
Publisher
Frontiers
Rights
Copyright © 2014 Raboni, Alonso, Tufik and Suchecki. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
APA Citation
Raboni, M. R., Alonso, F. F. D., Tufik, S., & Suchecki, D. (2014). Improvement of mood and sleep alterations in posttraumatic stress disorder patients by eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 209. Open access: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00209
Audience
EMDR Therapists, Other Mental Health Professionals
Language
English
Content Type
Article, Peer-Reviewed, RCT
Access Type
External Resource, Open Access
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