Page 89 - JCBP-3-2

Journal of Clinical and
Basic Psychosomatics Impact of sleep on psychosomatic health

association, a temporal or even causal relationship can be various organ systems and suggest potential treatments for
established between changes in sleep architecture and the psychosomatic diseases, including the use of medication to
psychosomatic diseases; the particular dreams that occur suppress REM sleep.
in these types of sleep and their role in the appearance With regard to the quantitative aspect of REM sleep
or exacerbation of the psychosomatic pathology; and in individuals suffering from psychosomatic diseases,
whether there are therapeutic interventions on sleep that results in the literature have yielded contrasting results:
can lead to prevention or improvement of symptoms of some articles claimed that patients suffering from
psychosomatic illnesses.
psychosomatic pathologies have high percentages of REM
2. Methods sleep in the total sleep period, 22-26 while others claimed
the opposite, 27,28 which can be at least partly explained by
The paper is structured in the form of a narrative review, the different methodologies of the studies and the small
concentrating on relevant information found in different groups of patients involved. The studies that were consulted
types of scientific publications (original research articles, throughout the review, their type, and main key findings
clinical trials, case studies, reviews, and books) on the link are listed in Table 2. The evidence for increased REM sleep
between sleep, dreams, and psychosomatic pathology. The time is stronger and more abundant, found in studies
articles were searched in the PubMed database, through targeting psychosomatic pathologies of many different
repeated searches on consecutive days of the expression organ systems. Using the method of polysomnography,
(“Psychosomatic Medicine”[Mesh] OR “Psychophysiologic Bazil et al. found statistically significant differences (P
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Disorders”[Mesh]) AND (“Sleep Deprivation”[Mesh] < 0.05) between a group of eight patients suffering from
OR “Sleep, REM”[Mesh] OR “Sleep, Slow Wave”[Mesh]), non-epileptic psychogenic seizures and a control group
using the respective keywords. All English-language, full- of 10 patients in sleep structure, stating that patients with
text articles on human subjects were searched (“Full text,” seizures of psychogenic origin have a relatively increased
“Humans,” and “English” filters). Relevant references of the amount of REM sleep. Based on similar assumptions
papers were also included in the study. Articles related to found in other studies, 29-31 Jarrett et al. demonstrated the
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psychiatric pathology, not psychosomatic illnesses, were presence of prolonged REM sleep durations in patients
excluded from the study. The type and number of items with irritable bowel syndrome. Schmidt and Nofzinger
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that were consulted, subsequently included, or excluded showed a reduced REM sleep onset latency in patients
are shown in Table 1. with psychogenic erectile dysfunction, and Karacan et al.
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3. Results identified long periods of superficial sleep, high sleep
onset latency, and long periods of REM sleep in patients
3.1. REM sleep and psychosomatic disorders with nocturnal angina pectoris. Although there is more
As stated in the Introduction, REM sleep is a stage of evidence that REM sleep is of longer duration in people
sleep in which the activation of the autonomic nervous with psychosomatic pathology, contrary results are also
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system and various mental processes is marked, and worth mentioning, like the study of Warnes which states
the stress generated on the body night after night can that the 10 patients with psychosomatic diseases in the
be a contributing factor to the onset or exacerbation of study group, especially those with ulcerative colitis, had
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psychosomatic pathology. The scientific articles discuss reduced REM sleep periods, or the one of Tantam et al.,
the connection between sleep structure and this type in which six patients with psychosomatic skin pathology
of pathology, highlighting the role of both the quantity had reduced REM sleep periods. Knowing all these data,
and quality of REM sleep in the development of these only apparently contradictory to what is detailed in the
conditions. They also explore how REM sleep can affect Discussion section, we can affirm that the presence of an
unstable REM sleep state is a possible precondition for
the development of a psychosomatic pathology, an aspect
Table 1. Article type of the included publications also emphasized by Friedman. Arguments in support
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Study design Articles Articles Articles of this hypothesis come from the fields of medicine and
read included excluded biology as well as psychology. From a biological point of
Original research article 15 13 2 view, REM sleep generates an activation of the sympathetic
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Theoretical article 2 1 1 vegetative nervous system with all the physiological or
Case report 2 1 1 pathophysiological effects that can occur on a vulnerable
organ system, and patients with psychosomatic pathology
Review 8 7 1 show a marked imbalance of the autonomic nervous
Total 27 22 5 system. From a psychological point of view, the inability
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Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 83 doi: 10.36922/jcbp.4997