The relationship between insomnia and functioning in psychosis

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    The relationship between insomnia and functioning in people who experience psychosis.

  • IRAS ID

    146835

  • Contact name

    Lee Mulligan

  • Contact email

    lee.mulligan-2@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    The University of Manchester

  • Research summary

    All humans need to sleep. However, some people can find it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep. In clinical terms, this is called insomnia. Insomnia is a feature of many mental health problems. Insomnia can impact a person’s mood, their ability to think and their ability to get things done.

    Many people who experience psychosis (that is, people who may hear, see or believe things that other's do not) report difficulties with sleep. Research studies have shown that up to 80% of these people meet clinical criteria for insomnia. There is a lot of research that has shown that as insomnia increases, the severity of people’s psychosis increases. This suggests that insomnia may be important in the treatment of psychosis.

    In this study, the authors explore whether insomnia affects day-to-day functioning in people who experience psychosis. We will be asking people to complete some interviews and questionnaires. We will also be asking people to wear a watch for 7 days. This will measure the quality of their sleep. The watch will also beep at five fixed time-points throughout each day and will ask people to answer questions about their ability to get things done on that day. This method of research is known as Experience Sampling Methodology (ESM). It is hoped that this research will aid the development of sleep treatments to improve functioning in people who experience psychosis.

  • REC name

    North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    14/NW/0248

  • Date of REC Opinion

    9 Jul 2014

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion