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The antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation

mosaicscience.com

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Re: The antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation

#71

Post by Demiurge »

projectramo wrote: post #62
lkrubner wrote: post #61

For me, the big shock has always been the extent to which sleep can kill a fantastic streak of productivity. I sometimes have weeks of incredible energy, where I work 12 or even 14 hours every day, and I do my best work, and I have deep insights, and invent new products and new kinds of software. And generally, over the course of a week or two, I become more productive each day. And finally I have a day when I am on…

Maybe you’re mixing up cause and effect. Maybe your “sleep” was collapsing with exhaustion when it all caught up?

That sounds right, sleep is just the beginning of recovery from burnout. I can get pretty productive for some deadlines, working nonstop, but if there is too much to do, it can become painful to work or think, and the productivity can even come to a complete halt. Only after a week or more can I do anything. So, lessons learned a few years ago, it's best to keep overworking to short bursts, and there are no miracles.

Re: The antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation

#72

Post by gameswithgo »

projectramo wrote: post #62
lkrubner wrote: post #61

For me, the big shock has always been the extent to which sleep can kill a fantastic streak of productivity. I sometimes have weeks of incredible energy, where I work 12 or even 14 hours every day, and I do my best work, and I have deep insights, and invent new products and new kinds of software. And generally, over the course of a week or two, I become more productive each day. And finally I have a day when I am on…

Maybe you’re mixing up cause and effect. Maybe your “sleep” was collapsing with exhaustion when it all caught up?

yeah that sounds about right

Re: The antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation

#73

Post by andrepd »

sky_rw wrote: post #41
uhhyeahdude wrote: post #17

How very odd for me to find this on HN this evening. I'm on "day 2" of my once a week sleep fast, which means things are a bit surreal to begin with. For each of the last seven weeks, I stay awake from Thursday morning until my "regular" bedtime hour Friday evening. I do this because it actually seems to be an effective way to avoid falling into a hole of anhedonia and "stuck-ness." I am hip to many of the cognitive…

Semi-related: I do a once per week water fast on the same schedule (no food thursday, eat friday night) and I have similar mental-reset and body-reset type benefits. Maybe there is something to be said for just breaking yourself out of your rut and pushing yourself mentally on an unusual physical metric. Might trigger some evolutionary stress response that kickstarts our hunter/gatherer instincts.

Or it might just be placebo.

Re: The antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation

#74

Post by simooooo »

uhhyeahdude wrote: post #17

How very odd for me to find this on HN this evening. I'm on "day 2" of my once a week sleep fast, which means things are a bit surreal to begin with. For each of the last seven weeks, I stay awake from Thursday morning until my "regular" bedtime hour Friday evening. I do this because it actually seems to be an effective way to avoid falling into a hole of anhedonia and "stuck-ness." I am hip to many of the cognitive…

Having been sleep deprived due to watching much overwatch league this week. I'm convinced that my productivity is garbage with any less than 7 hours a night

Re: The antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation

#75

Post by ashman5 »

gingerlime wrote: post #47
pgt wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow! I awoke early this morning from a bit of a bender last night and have a similar feeling of mania (the positive, productive kind). At first I attributed it to a GABA rebound, but thinking back, a sleep fast has historically injected a sense of urgency and vigour. I have been fasting intermittently after reading Valter Longo's metabolic oxidation research (the term they used for aging research to get it published)…

I'm also skipping breakfast. Trying to keep at least 16 hours between dinner and lunch. Started nearly a year ago. Generally I feel better, and intend to continue, but: * Somehow I didn't lose much weight. I wasn't particularly overweight to begin with though. Maybe lost 1-2kg over this period(?) * My blood tests showed increase in cholesterol. I was reading about it and it seems common (or not very uncommon). It's s…

I have had similar outcomes. I started the Intermediate Fasting in order to try to lower my cholesterol, but mine actually went up as well. Weight went down initially, but then stabalized at my normal, pre IF, weight.

Re: The antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation

#77

Post by reneherse »

alsetmusic wrote: post #64
lkrubner wrote: post #61

For me, the big shock has always been the extent to which sleep can kill a fantastic streak of productivity. I sometimes have weeks of incredible energy, where I work 12 or even 14 hours every day, and I do my best work, and I have deep insights, and invent new products and new kinds of software. And generally, over the course of a week or two, I become more productive each day. And finally I have a day when I am on…

This almost sounds like a mild manic swing followed by a crash.

Yes, if it is recurring, possibly cyclothymia.

Re: The antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation

#78

Post by Shikadi »

caseymarquis wrote: post #67

This article confuses depression and bipolar disorder quite a bit. They're inducing mania through sleep deprivation in patients with bipolar disorder going through a period of depression. This is somewhat dangerous, as mania can have severe consequences. The article even states that there's a 95% relapse into depression for those not taking lithium. Only people with BPD take lithium. It's not about the lithium, it's…

It's probably worth noting that bipolar disorder and manic depression are the same condition. In other words, bipolar disorder is a form of depression, though they could have been more clear and said "other forms of depression" in certain places.

Re: The antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation

#79

Post by master-litty »

I'm in the middle of a sleepless night now and am already feeling that familiar high.

I've never met anyone beyond family who could relate -- especially about the cognitive improvements, this is when I do my best work! This is an exceptionally interesting post for me.

Much of my mother's side is bipolar and it continues in me. As long as I can remember noticing, I run through 3 very definitive emotional states:

* I am feeling productive and withdraw from society. I get frustrated when I'm unable to work and often go without sleep to make up lost time

* I am feeling social and withdraw from the extreme productivity. I simply don't want to sleep when I can have late night company

* I am feeling depressed and withdraw from everything and everyone. I am inconsolable and confused by my mood. I eventually and magically get sick of it, often after a sleepless night

The sleep deprivation is a critical part of my natural rhythm now that I really think about it. The article rings deeply true.

Re: The antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation

#80

Post by notjosh »

caseymarquis wrote: post #67

This article confuses depression and bipolar disorder quite a bit. They're inducing mania through sleep deprivation in patients with bipolar disorder going through a period of depression. This is somewhat dangerous, as mania can have severe consequences. The article even states that there's a 95% relapse into depression for those not taking lithium. Only people with BPD take lithium. It's not about the lithium, it's…

Just to clarify: when you say BPD here, do you mean bipolar disorder, or borderline personality disorder? I've only known it as the latter (and a quick Google search agrees), but from context I assume you mean the former?
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