The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time

by Alex Korb

After slow-wave sleep comes REM sleep, in which your brain is a lot more active. As I mentioned in chapter 5, people with depression show increased amounts of REM sleep,2 and they spend less time in slow-wave sleep, which means their sleep is less restful. One of the effects of antidepressant medications is to reduce REM sleep.