Sleep Deprivation Is Surprisingly Effective as an Antidepressant. But we don't know why.

睡眠不足竟然能有效抑制抑郁症。不过我们并不知道为什么。

For those who suffer from clinical depression, there could be an unexpected source of solace.

那些患有抑郁症的人，可能马上能得到一份意料之外的慰藉。

While long-term sleep deprivation and chronic insomnia can harm your mental and emotional health, in the short term, evidence suggests, going without sleep can help.

虽然长期的睡眠不足和失眠可以损害你的精神健康和情绪健康，但短期而言，有证据显示：缺觉是有好处的。

Previous studies since the 1970s have noted a correlation between reduced REM sleep and improved depression symptoms.

1970年代的研究就显示，减少快速眼动睡眠的时间，能够缓解抑郁症的症状。

A 2002 study found that one whole night of sleep deprivation resulted in an improvement in 40-60 percent of patients, as did another one in 2010.

2002年的一项研究显示，一整晚不睡觉，可以缓解40%-60%的病人的症状；2010年的一项研究也得出了同样的结果。

A 2013 study attempted to find the mechanism, linking the effect to a type of brain cell that releases a protein important for sleep.

2013年有一项研究企图弄明白这个机制，他们发现这和大脑中的一种特定细胞有关，这种细胞能分泌一种对睡眠特别重要的蛋白质。

Now a meta-analysis of 66 independent studies conducted between 1974 and 2016 has found that sleep deprivation rapidly reduces the symptoms of depression in roughly half of patients, at least when conducted in controlled inpatient settings.

而现在，一项大数据研究对1974年到2016年间的66项独立研究进行了分析，发现对于大约一半的病人来说，睡眠不足能够快速缓解抑郁症；至少在实验环境下是这么回事。

There were also different types of sleep deprivation represented, including total and partial, as well as short term and longer term.

研究中的睡眠剥夺有很多种，包括完全睡眠剥夺和部分睡眠剥夺，以及短期睡眠剥夺和长期睡眠剥夺。

The team found that partial sleep deprivation, in which the patient was only allowed to sleep for 3-4 hours for one night followed by forced wakefulness for 20-21 hours, was just as effective at reducing depression symptoms as total sleep deprivation for 36 hours.

研究人员发现，在缓解抑郁症的效果上，部分睡眠剥夺和完全睡眠剥夺一样有效；在部分睡眠剥夺中，病人只被允许睡3到4个小时，然后会被强制保持清醒20到21个小时，而完全睡眠剥夺则让病人连续清醒36个小时。

But, hat there's a correlation between sleep deprivation and an improvement in symptoms doesn't mean that it can replace other treatments, though.

但是，虽然睡眠不足能缓解抑郁症的症状，但这并不意味着病人就不需要其他的治疗。

Several studies have found that the effect only lasts as long as the patient stays awake following the sleep deprivation for up to 80 percent or more of respondents.

好几个研究都发现，对于80%或更多的受试者来说，这个效果只在睡眠不足之后的那段时间有效。

Moreover, the researchers still don't know why sleep deprivation seems to result in a rapid and significant decrease in depression symptoms.

另外，研究者们依旧不知道为什么睡眠不足能够这么快速有效地改善抑郁症。

The research has been published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

这项研究是被刊登在《临床精神病学期刊》上的。

（翻译：能猫）