A book on sleep I highly recommend is Jim Horne's "Sleepfaring". He talks quite a bit about REM sleep. Here is what he says:
REM sleep is NOT essential. Case in point: several anti-depressants eliminate REM sleep without noticeable side-effects.
REM sleep deprivation (or sleep deprivation) is NOT associated with psychosis. It is associated to visual hallucinations (which is different from psychosis where you think what you're seeing is real) when sleep is severely deprived.
REM sleep may not be sleep at all. It may lie along a continuum between sleep and wakefulness. He cites some fascinating evidence regarding this subject.
Great questions, though. Hopefully we can put our heads together and try to think of what might be the cause of the problem. |