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Sleep disturbance affects 50% to 80% of all patients with psychiatric disorders. Slow-wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep have been of significant interest to neurologists, psychiatrists and psychologists; SWS because of its putative role in brain repair, detoxification, homeostatic maintenance and in cognitive function, and REM sleep because of its suggested involvement in memory, neurodevelopment and emotional regulation. To date, little is known about the consequences of disrupted sleep and sleep deprivation in psychiatric disorders. Moreover, in clinical practice, sleep disturbance is still often regarded as an epiphenomenon of the primary psychiatric disorder. Sleep disorders increase the risk of developing episodes of psychiatric disorders. Also, insomnia, defined as difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep resulting in daytime consequences, is common among psychiatric disorders. Several other potential comorbid sleep disorders, including OSA, restless leg syndrome (RLS), periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD), and REM behaviour disorder (RBD) are known to modulate psychiatric symptom expression. It is increasingly recognised that sleep and psychiatric disorders may share a bidirectional relationship. Therefore, concurrent and aggressive management of sleep should be a pivotal part of the clinical management in all psychiatric disorders.