Research Lecturer @UEA_ClinPsyD and Clinical Psychologist @CPFT_NHS. Interested in sleep, psychosis, and nerdery. (she/her)
Sarah Reeve
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On the other hand, excessive sleep being used as a strategy to avoid anxiety or challenging situations would be expected to worsen mental health over time, increase isolation, and probably affect social recovery. So - while identified as a positive in the studies this is not straightforward(!)
Overall, while these medications are helpful (and often necessary) for managing symptoms for many patients, it is surprising that so little is known about the impacts - knowing more will improve clinical management and hopefully enable informed choices for patients.
The majority of studies reflected qualitative or content-analysis approaches (n=8), which limits interpretation and generalisability in many ways. Many studies also were likely to be non-representative in population recruited (e.g. analysing websites or patient forums for medication comments).
In all studies reporting on multiple medication side effects (n=7), sedation was identified in all of them as either the most common (n=5) or in the top three (n=2). Also noteworthy was the lack of definition of sedation, and inconsistent measurement - nearly every study had a different approach...
