Addiction et troubles du sommeil : craving, rythmes circadiens. Une mise au point

Addiction is often associated with disordered sleep, and this link appears to be bi-directionnal. Thus it is important to detect both and to be able to treat them, in order to avoid a possible vicious circle, as bad sleep increases the risk for substance use, and most if not all psychoactive substances affect sleep. However, if the direct effects of psychoactive drugs are usually known, less is known about the effects of long-term use and possible neurobiological modification from addiction disorders. If such long-term effects exist, they might be observed long after the patient stopped using and independently of the type of addiction (including behavioural addictions). In this article, we aimed at summarizing (non exhaustively) the present knowledge and the existing hypotheses as well as what remains to be studied on the nature of the association between sleep and addiction. We also highlight the need for further studies of sleep quality in behavioural addictions.