Insomnia, nightmares, and erratic sleep times could be indicators of worsening suicidal thoughts among young adults, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that young adults who experienced sleep disturbances were more likely to have suicidal thoughts over the subsequent 3 weeks, compared with young adults who slept well.

Lead author Rebecca Bernert, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University in California, and colleagues recently reported their findings in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

For 1 week, participants were required to wear an accelerometer on their wrist each night. This enabled the researchers to monitor their wrist movements, which previous research has shown is a reliable indicator of sleep-wake patterns.—Radio Pakistan