Schizophrenia is a mental health condition that is characterized by hallucinations, delusions, and very disorganized thinking.
The condition needs lifelong treatment and often has a significant impact on the person with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia often first appears when a person is in their 20s, but it can occur earlier or later.
One of the first symptoms of schizophrenia can be disruption to your usual sleep pattern. For instance, you might:
begin staying up all night
start being unable to sleep for more than an hour or two at a time
suddenly have trouble falling asleep on schedule
This early sign of schizophrenia is called a circadian rhythm disruption. This symptom often comes before any delusions, hallucinations, or other more noticeable symptoms.
Circadian rhythm disruptions aren’t the only way schizophrenia can affect your sleep. We’ll review the many ways schizophrenia can affect your sleep and how to manage them.
What are the risks of disturbed sleep with schizophrenia?
Sleep disturbances and schizophrenia are closely linked. In fact, sleep disturbances are often the first symptom of schizophrenia to appear.
Researchers are still trying to fully understand this link. A scientific review from 2020 suggested that the same gene mutations (changes) might cause schizophrenia and circadian rhythm disruptions.
People with schizophrenia are also at an increased risk of other sleep disturbances. One 2017 study estimated that between 30 and 80 percentTrusted Source of people with schizophrenia have disturbed sleep. These conditions can make it difficult to get the sleep your body and brain need for healthy function.
Lack of sleep can cause the symptoms of mental health conditions, including schizophrenia, to increase and become harder to manage — even if you are taking medication. Some of the symptoms which might increase are:
disorganized thought
memory difficulties
difficulty concentrating
difficulty expressing thoughts
difficulty paying attention
hallucinations
delusions
anger, sadness, or other emotions that don’t fit the situation
This can weaken the effect of medication and treatment plans that were helping you manage your condition. It can cause a relapse and might cause the need for a new course of treatment.
Additionally, sleep disturbances can impact your physical health. Over time, a lack of sleep can lead to complications such as:
weight gain
high blood pressure
a weakened immune system
higher risk for diabetes
Common sleep disturbances in people with schizophrenia
There are several sleep disturbances that people with schizophrenia are likely to experience. Not everyone with schizophrenia will experience all of these conditions, but most experience at least one.
Insomnia
Insomnia is when you have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. Most people experience occasional sleepless nights, but people with insomnia cannot sleep at least 3 nights per week.
Sometimes, external factors such as stress, caffeine, or sleeping environment cause insomnia. For people with schizophrenia, insomnia is often the result of overactive dopamine receptors in the brain.
Dopamine is a brain chemical that your body uses to send signals between your nerve cells. It can affect your mood, memory, coordination, and other important functions. Dopamine needs to be at the right level for all of these functions to work correctly.
Both high and low levels of dopamine can impact how your body works.
High dopamine activity is linked to several mental health conditions. Since both insomnia and schizophrenia are linked to high dopamine levels, it can be difficult for people with schizophrenia to manage insomnia and get restful sleep.