Summary
We describe the unusual case of a young girl with agitated depression who was referred to our Sleep Centre, complaining severe insomnia. She underwent overnight polysomnography that disclosed periodic limb movements during sleep associated with increased sleep latency, supporting the clinical diagnosis of restless legs syndrome. Treatment with the dopamine agonist ropinirole, at the dose of 1.5 mg/day, improved significantly both sleep disturbance and psychiatric symptoms (Table I). This case supports the importance of checking for the existence of restless legs syndrome in young people whose first episode of mood disorder is associated with severe insomnia and to eventually perform a complete polysomnographic study to confirm the clinical diagnosis and to evaluate the outcome.