Transdiagnostic factors across fibromyalgia and mental disorders: sleep disturbances may play a key role. A clinical review

Abstract

Sleep disturbances, affective disorders, pain and fatigue are often present in individuals affected by fibromyalgia (FM). The pathophysiology of FM is not yet well understood and, to date, no treatment has been proven to be fully effective in alleviating all symptoms. Adopting a transdiagnostic perspective could thus be useful for clinicians: treatment would target a transdiagnostic process across a range of disturbances, not just a single disorder. The aim of this review is to revise the available literature about the potential role of sleep disturbances as a transdiagnostic process in FM symptomatology and mood or anxiety disorders comorbidity. We are proposing a model under which sleep disturbances can play a central role. Because conditions of sleep loss are related to the activation of the stress system, including the activation of the inflammation system, we propose this mechanism as a key one: it can be shared by mental, sleep disturbances and pain in FM and it may explain, in part, the high levels of comorbidity between them. In this frame-work sleep disturbances may play a key role and be the target of therapeutic strategies across FM symptomatology and mental disorders.