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The antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation

mosaicscience.com

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Re: The antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation

#141

Post by exodust »

Synaesthesia wrote: post #114
yani wrote: post #56

My personal experience is exactly the opposite. Lack of sleep induces depression. This is also supported by many studies. I recommend this read http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/conseque...

In the article it says: “Sleep deprivation really has opposite effects in healthy people and those with depression,” says Benedetti. If you’re healthy and you don’t sleep, you’ll feel in a bad mood. But if you’re depressed, it can prompt an immediate improvement in mood, and in cognitive abilities.”

Sounds like the theory relies on distraction to provoke attention away from depression. "Look at that shiny thing over there". Unfortunately the shiny thing is the effect of unhealthy sleep deprivation.

Re: The antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation

#142

Post by lkrubner »

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 theory would only work if sleep caused me to feel refreshed. But I don't think any of us have ever had the experience that more sleep lead to more awakeness. It's not as if we are well rested after 8 hours of sleep, and even more energized by 9 hours of sleep, and even more energized by 10 hours of sleep, and even more energized by 11 hours of sleep, etc.

I think most of us have had the experience of over-sleeping, and then being strangely groggy all day. Certainly, most of my friends have had that experience.

Re: The antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation

#143

Post by cypherpunks01 »

mjfl wrote: post #117
dimal wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ketamine doesn’t make you happy and it doesn’t make you less sharp (except for the short period of time when you’re under the influence). I just did it for the third time this week and the effect is not what you describe. It is not an escape. I’m able to think more clearly and be _more_ rational because I don’t have the heavy weight of depression clouding my mind. I feel like ketamine reboots my mind. It pulls me out…

How do you know you're not hallucinating that your mind is clearer?

Because it's not a hallucinogen.

Re: The antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation

#148

Post by barryjoe »

vanderZwan wrote: post #122
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…

> The downside: I am totally sober, but I know my executive function is not working very well, and I may very well regret commenting. As someone who is chronically sleep deprived this hits me hard. I had a few days of "full wakefulness" last year, where I had a good nights sleep for a few days in a row and my head was just clear . It felt so amazing to be "all here" and notice that your brain is firing all cylinders…

Since a few years ago my sleep routine stuck at 4-5 hours per night sleep. Some months ago I slept for 9 hours during 3 nights, and what a day... It was surreal as I felt to be imensably capable of thinking hard and focus.

Re: The antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation

#149

Post by projectramo »

lkrubner wrote: post #142
projectramo wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

That theory would only work if sleep caused me to feel refreshed. But I don't think any of us have ever had the experience that more sleep lead to more awakeness. It's not as if we are well rested after 8 hours of sleep, and even more energized by 9 hours of sleep, and even more energized by 10 hours of sleep, and even more energized by 11 hours of sleep, etc. I think most of us have had the experience of over-sleepi…

That may be because your sleep deficit is say 20 hours and your need 8 (6 if lucky) to break even so you need something like 10 hours a day for 10 days to catch up.

All this is to say I occasionally feel groggy but if I consistently sleep “a lot” I feel great after a few days.

Re: The antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation

#150

Post by ada1981 »

wslh wrote: post #133
ada1981 wrote: post #43

The most useful model of depression I've found is that it's anger directed inward. Essentially, a restriction of emotional freedom and a suppression of feeling all our emotions. This is typically due to trauma or neglect or some other developmental adaptation not to feel fully. This is reinforced by a culture in which people try to fix or cheer you up when sad or angry. In a culture where actually feeling basic human…

Excellent comment. Returned after some hours to check if some other people followed your thread and I felt the need to give you this simple feedback. Feelings/Emotions are a neglected part of our western culture.

The inner world is really our final frontier. Appreciate your feedback.
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