"The Mind After Midnight": The dark side of sleep disruption

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Disrupted sleep could be a contributing factor in both suicides and homicides, according to a study from researchers in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson who conducted an analysis of 15 years of national data.

They are calling it "the mind after midnight."

"It mostly just means you're awake at night when your brain wants to be asleep," said the study's senior author, Michael Grandner, an associate professor of psychiatry, director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic and a BIO5 Institute member.

When someone is awake during the hours of 2 to 5 a.m., for example, but they don't want to be, the brain's decision-making function declines and emotions spin out of control, Grandner said. At the same time, a negative mood is already at its peak.

"If you've ever had that experience where you're awake at that time, and you're not thinking and feeling the way you normally should, the main point of this study is, it shows pretty conclusively, you're not alone," Grandner said. "When other people are awake in the middle of the night when their brain wants to be asleep, they're also at risk for this sort of thing."

Their study found that this nighttime risk of making unhealthy decisions is a universal problem. However, it is greater among teens or young adults, people who are drinking alcohol and those having relationship conflicts.

The paper, "Risk for Suicide and Homicide Peaks at Night: Findings From the National Violent Death Reporting System, 35 States, 2003–2017," was published May 29 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Grandner said this is the first step in documenting the problem and understanding the scope of the problem. Now, they hope to find a solution to help the brain counteract its nighttime risk.

For now, Grandner says those who have trouble sleeping can undergo medication-free treatments like cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia, which essentially reprograms the brain to be able to sleep at night.

"This is something that we do here," Grandner said. "We're actually one of the centers of this nationwide, here in Arizona."