Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

outsideonline.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 324 posts

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#141

Post by nindalf »

Zarath wrote: post #132
motivic wrote: post #9

In case you feel sleep is a waste of time, it could actually be surprisingly productive to sleep. Once thing I noticed in grad school is that your sub-conscious is passively working on the problems you encountered even if you are not actively thinking about them. And often I would "dream" up a clever solution to a homework problem during my sleep. J.P. Serre, one of the most brilliant mathematician still living today…

While I understand why you'd write something like this, I think that this sort of thinking is the reason people get poor sleep nowadays anyway. This obsession with "efficiency" and "productivity". Even if it is more productive to get sleep, I believe that thinking about it in terms of hygiene or in terms of quality of life is much healthier. Maybe you disagree but not every minute of life should be devoted to doing t…

Completely agree. I think GP put it this way because it’s easier to convince a “productivity ninja” that sleep is good for productivity than to convince them that productivity shouldn’t be their sole focus. If the goal is for them to get more sleep, this is how to reason with them.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#142

Post by jsanl »

MisterOctober wrote: post #5

A lot of the stuff mentioned in this article -- microsleeps, immune weakness, irrational thoughts and behavior -- sure rings a bell from my university days when I would, either for work or school "reasons," routinely pull all-nighters. Ended up with some very bad results. Also: Schools in general in my area, including elementary, are starting waaaay earlier than they used to, and the kids aren't getting enough sleep,…

This is especially bad for teenagers as they are wired to sleep at later times in puberty (called "phase delay"). How the are you supposed to learn while being sleep deprived for basically most of your classes?

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#143

Post by kieckerjan »

kvark wrote: post #40

I often find myself mote productive after a mildly bad night. The brain stops anxiously looking for nuts to crack, and instead can easily focus on a single problem for a long time. Isn't best for all scenarios, but definitely superior in some, e.g. implementing a large chunk of logic that was designed earlier.

Haha, that I recognize. Especially if I am a bit hung-over because I could not resist taking an advance on the weekend by hitting the pub on a Thursday night. May today be a productive day!

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#144

Post by anon9001 »

cj wrote: post #93
o10449366 wrote: post #6

I was born with chronic insomnia and I'm now in my early 30s. I never feel sleepy and just this past Monday I went to work having not slept the night before. I'm healthy now and I guess my body is so used to the effects of sleep deprivation that I feel no side effects (such as headaches), but I wouldn't be surprised if I die very young. If you have any questions feel free to ask them, just please don't suggest I try…

You alluded to taking benzos + z-drugs for 10+ years (you weren't very specific, so I could be off base) on 6-9 month cycles with 3 month tolerance break, and that you've been clean off benzo/x-drugs for a year now. I've seen cases of benzo/z-drug withdrawal (after a short 1-2 years of daily use) requiring 3 months to even notice relief from the side effects of the withdrawal (most notably, horrible insomnia). And th…

Benzos are extremely helpful for providing relief from anxiety and stopping panic attacks, and everyone should have some and know how to use them responsibly. The level of utility of being able to turn off anxiety and fear is incredible. I take xanax before I go to the dentist, because it's just not happening any other way, and it absolutely squashes the flight response and lets me act like a normal human. It shouldn't be understated what a miracle this is, and that it can be done safely with almost no risk.

But they're also the most addictive substances we've got. After a week or so, you now have an addiction that needs tapering to not be dangerous. If you lose access to the drugs, you might die from withdrawal.

The withdrawal can make you feel literally insane. I don't know how to explain it other than it's extremely unpleasant and everything feels moody and irrational, and sometimes you don't even realize the extent to which you're being irrational until you take more drugs and feel "normal" again.

The potential for addiction is also high because these drugs feel the best out of all drugs. You're going to want to use it again. Imagine if alcohol never made you sick or dizzy, and you could have as much of it as you wanted, and you'd just keep feeling more relaxed until you pass out. Then you wake up feeling relaxed and don't have a hangover. That's what benzos feel like.

Also many doctors don't realize just how possible it is to have a seizure during withdrawal, and some doctors will refuse patients asking for benzos because they see them as drug-seekers.

Any time I see one of these threads about benzos, I try to share my experience, because they're just so misunderstood by the general public. And it's probably not great that there's so much talk about xanax in hiphop right now.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#145

Post by Pimpus »

surfsvammel wrote: post #138

If sleep is so important. Why didn’t we evolve to have our newborns and toddlers not destroy our sleep? Are parents sacrificed for the well being of the kiddos? sleep deprived and frustrated father

Our lives no longer resemble our natural state so the premise of this question is nonsensical.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#146

Post by supersrdjan »

harikb wrote: post #127
numlock86 wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I noticed in grad school that your sub-conscious is passively working on the problems you encountered even if you are not actively thinking about them As other comments already mentioned, this works amazing for problem solving related jobs as well. As an engineer I use this actively on almost a weekly basis. To make this work you just gotta really think about that problem and understand the actual parameters very w…

Lucky you. In my case, I end up thinking about the problem in my sleep, come up with solutions that are a mix between reality and fantasy within the dream and usually end in a horrible loop of the above while I desperately try to break out of it. In short, spoils my whole night sleep ( at least how I feel about it next day ). Rarely have it actually produced a successful solution!

My problem too. I actually can't fall asleep because my brain keeps throwing out random ideas at me, like a toddler tugging at my sleeve: "is this solution good enough? no? How about this? No? What about this? No? This?" and so on and so on throughout the night.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#147

Post by cesnja »

surfsvammel wrote: post #138

If sleep is so important. Why didn’t we evolve to have our newborns and toddlers not destroy our sleep? Are parents sacrificed for the well being of the kiddos? sleep deprived and frustrated father

From natural selection perspective, at that point you've already passed on your genes and now your most important mission is to ensure those genes get passed along. Your own wellbeing is not important.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#148

Post by hrktb »

MisterOctober wrote: post #5

A lot of the stuff mentioned in this article -- microsleeps, immune weakness, irrational thoughts and behavior -- sure rings a bell from my university days when I would, either for work or school "reasons," routinely pull all-nighters. Ended up with some very bad results. Also: Schools in general in my area, including elementary, are starting waaaay earlier than they used to, and the kids aren't getting enough sleep,…

> convenience of the parents

This is makes it feel like parents are a lazy self-centric bunch.

Most parents are bound by their work hours, as a society we haven’t accept yet that normal people should have flexible hours or we can’t all be at home parents.

School time is just an effect of that outer context.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#149

Post by dkersten »

motivic wrote: post #9

In case you feel sleep is a waste of time, it could actually be surprisingly productive to sleep. Once thing I noticed in grad school is that your sub-conscious is passively working on the problems you encountered even if you are not actively thinking about them. And often I would "dream" up a clever solution to a homework problem during my sleep. J.P. Serre, one of the most brilliant mathematician still living today…

I’ve experimented with nootropics and I came to the conclusion that the best way to improve your mental ability is:

Sleep

Exercise

Diet

And then everything else like nootropics

In that order. That is, they certainly work and help but they’re a micro-optimisation so there’s not much benefit if you’re not doing the macro ones first and sleep, in my opinion and anecdotal experience is at the very top of that list.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#150

Post by mft_ »

Zarath wrote: post #132
motivic wrote: post #9

In case you feel sleep is a waste of time, it could actually be surprisingly productive to sleep. Once thing I noticed in grad school is that your sub-conscious is passively working on the problems you encountered even if you are not actively thinking about them. And often I would "dream" up a clever solution to a homework problem during my sleep. J.P. Serre, one of the most brilliant mathematician still living today…

While I understand why you'd write something like this, I think that this sort of thinking is the reason people get poor sleep nowadays anyway. This obsession with "efficiency" and "productivity". Even if it is more productive to get sleep, I believe that thinking about it in terms of hygiene or in terms of quality of life is much healthier. Maybe you disagree but not every minute of life should be devoted to doing t…

It doesn't have to be about work productivity.

The most profound effect I noticed myself is learning passages of music on an instrument (note I'm an amateur, and not especially good!) After not too long trying to learn/practise one evening, I will be noticeably better the next day.

Post reply on HN