Study is first to show that highly variable sleep schedules predict elevated suicide risk

In actively suicidal young adults, highly variable sleep schedules predicted an elevated risk for suicide at one week and three weeks independent of depression. Time of mean sleep onset varied by three hours, and time of sleep offset varied by 2.8 hours. Sleep irregularity also was the only sleep-related variable to predict greater mood lability, which in turn predicted elevated suicidal symptoms. Participants were 49 actively suicidal undergraduate students from 19-23 years old. Read more...