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Can sleep deprivation cure depression?

nytimes.com

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Re: Can sleep deprivation cure depression?

#11

Post by Bluestrike2 »

_m8fo wrote: post #4

I wonder how much coffee plays into this. I've yet to meet someone who sleeps consistently more than 8 hours per night who feels the need to drink coffee. edit: 8 quality hours of sleep, e.g. you wake up and you're not tired.

It depends on how much more than 8 hours we're talking about. Consistently oversleeping, especially 10+ hours a night, can be indicative of some potentially serious problems that either already exist or may in the future. Rather than making someone feel well-rested, it often has the opposite effect: confusion, lack of energy, sluggishness, etc. due to a poorer quality of sleep in general.

I'd imagine that self-medicating with lots of caffeine is a pretty natural response for most people in that situation even though it doesn't actually solve the problem.

Re: Can sleep deprivation cure depression?

#12

Post by update »

> Tübingen who was hospitalized for depression and claimed that she normally kept her symptoms in check by taking all-night bike rides. He subsequently demonstrated in a group of depressed patients that a night of complete sleep deprivation produced an immediate, significant improvement in mood in about 60 percent of the group.

I thought this bit was neat. I'd heard that sleep deprivation can bring on a feeling of euphoria, and anecdotally, it has worked for me

Re: Can sleep deprivation cure depression?

#13

Post by mtdewcmu »

adamnemecek wrote: post #3

I'm hoping that society will adjust to recognize this because it feels like in certain circles, saying that you need to sleep seems to be seen a weakness.

I think that's part of a near-universal fallacy that conflates good health with strength of character. In the situation you described, having the ability to shrug off lack of sleep is a source of pride, as if it was entirely about willpower; in fact it is more likely related to health.

Re: Can sleep deprivation cure depression?

#14

Post by weaksauce »

transcranial wrote: post #8
roywiggins wrote: post #5

I wonder what damage our twice yearly clock changes do. An hour doesn't seem like much but, giving an entire population a little bit of jet lag simultaneously has to be bad for us, right?

There are definitely measurable population-level effects, like increased traffic accidents [1] and heart attacks [2]. And given that its purported benefits are completely unsubstantiated, it's amazing that DST still exists. [1] https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20140100 [2] http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc0807104

I wish we would all go on DST and be done with it forever. The extra hour of usable daylight after work is a net win for societies mental health. We have farming machines that do the heavy lifting and are mostly automated now anyway. Unlike when it was enacted, there simply are much fewer farmers.

Re: Can sleep deprivation cure depression?

#15

Post by chrisper »

3pt14159 wrote: post #10

My father, brother and I all only need about 5 or 6 hours of sleep. We all just wake up, no matter when we go to bed or how light or dark the room is at night or in the morning. I strongly suspect we have that gene that lets you sleep less, but NYT is indicating that they think I'm depressed based on the embedded interactive. I don't feel depressed. Short of a genomic test, how can one differentiate?

If you go to bed always at the same time and always wake up at the same time ( = having a proper sleeping schedule) and do not feel tired, irritated, etc., then you are fine.

A lot of people do not realize how important a good sleeping schedule is for both physical and mental health.

I go to bed roughly at the same time every day and get up at the same time every day as well and it really helps me with a lot of things.

Re: Can sleep deprivation cure depression?

#16

Post by rangibaby »

update wrote: post #12

> Tübingen who was hospitalized for depression and claimed that she normally kept her symptoms in check by taking all-night bike rides. He subsequently demonstrated in a group of depressed patients that a night of complete sleep deprivation produced an immediate, significant improvement in mood in about 60 percent of the group. I thought this bit was neat. I'd heard that sleep deprivation can bring on a feeling of eu…

That sounds like bipolar to me

Re: Can sleep deprivation cure depression?

#17

Post by joecool1029 »

weaksauce wrote: post #14
transcranial wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are definitely measurable population-level effects, like increased traffic accidents [1] and heart attacks [2]. And given that its purported benefits are completely unsubstantiated, it's amazing that DST still exists. [1] https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20140100 [2] http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc0807104

I wish we would all go on DST and be done with it forever. The extra hour of usable daylight after work is a net win for societies mental health. We have farming machines that do the heavy lifting and are mostly automated now anyway. Unlike when it was enacted, there simply are much fewer farmers.

Think of the children!!!

EDIT: I should clarify that this is nearly always the argument brought up against year round DST, so that children during winter go to school with sunlight in the morning.

Re: Can sleep deprivation cure depression?

#18

Post by douche »

weaksauce wrote: post #14
transcranial wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are definitely measurable population-level effects, like increased traffic accidents [1] and heart attacks [2]. And given that its purported benefits are completely unsubstantiated, it's amazing that DST still exists. [1] https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20140100 [2] http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc0807104

I wish we would all go on DST and be done with it forever. The extra hour of usable daylight after work is a net win for societies mental health. We have farming machines that do the heavy lifting and are mostly automated now anyway. Unlike when it was enacted, there simply are much fewer farmers.

I'd rather have the hour of daylight in the morning, so why not just stay on standard time?

I'd also much rather work 7-3 than 9-5.

Re: Can sleep deprivation cure depression?

#19

Post by ChrisClark »

_m8fo wrote: post #4

I wonder how much coffee plays into this. I've yet to meet someone who sleeps consistently more than 8 hours per night who feels the need to drink coffee. edit: 8 quality hours of sleep, e.g. you wake up and you're not tired.

> quality hours

Yeah, that's the important part. I can sleep 10 hours and seem to get nothing out of it and still need coffee. And the coffee may be part of why I'm also not sleeping well. Not a good loop to be in.

Re: Can sleep deprivation cure depression?

#20

Post by lj3 »

3pt14159 wrote: post #10

My father, brother and I all only need about 5 or 6 hours of sleep. We all just wake up, no matter when we go to bed or how light or dark the room is at night or in the morning. I strongly suspect we have that gene that lets you sleep less, but NYT is indicating that they think I'm depressed based on the embedded interactive. I don't feel depressed. Short of a genomic test, how can one differentiate?

Why is there a comment like this on every single HN post lately? Yes, you fall outside of the fat part of the bell curve. Congrats. What's your point? A single outlier does not disprove the post.

edited to add: fat part of the bell curve, since being outside of the bell curve entirely is not what I meant.

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