Live data from Hacker News

One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

news.northwestern.edu

201–210 of 312 posts

Re: One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

#202

Queue people blogging about their monthly “sleep fast” for optimized mood and focus.

That's exactly where my brain went. Now I need a Huberman Labs podcast telling me how I can incorporate this with my supplements and cold showers to achieve my maximum potential.

Don't forget to microdose shrooms as well, please.

Re: One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

#203

This must be why new parents always seem so bubbly and happy! But seriously, that’s very interesting and explains what I’ve experienced. I’ve been in a depression since quitting my phd a couple months ago and not having a direction in life, but whenever I have trouble sleeping I end up feeling better the next day. Maybe I’ll trying utilizing it to get my portfolio looking better.

There's something about getting 2-3 hours of sleep that makes me feel like I'm on top of the world throughout the day. I've always assumed it was a kind of wild delirium.

Sounds like I used to. Did it too many days in a row and had a full blown manic episode.

Re: One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

#204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

any medical doctor of any specialization can legally prescribe anything. that doesn't make it a good idea. a piece of supporting evidence is that the doctor's malpractice insurance may not cover any "cowboy" prescribing tendencies.

If all you need is a refill on a prescription you’ve been taking for 10 years, how is that “cowboy” prescribing? Also, these are trained professionals with years of education we’re talking about, not some random dude off the street.

anti depressants (and other drugs) have side effects, both in the short term and the long. Patients who want drugs may lie. Trained professionals, yes exactly, but need to have practical experience in an area of medicine to be an effective advocate for the patient.

I can't even believe I'm having to defend this position in front of this crowd, but now many GP's dismissed the symptoms of women's post-partum depression before it become a topic of mainstream discussion on television talk shows? Doctors are not perfect and are not free from various biases, and having had experience with your particular condition is invaluable to you.

Re: One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

#205
My body does insanely badly with poor sleep. The worst feedback loop is when nighttime eczema itchiness kills my sleep quality which increases my stress which increases my eczema symptoms...

But I've also been chronically depressed since childhood.

Re: One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

#206
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know. Seems very correlated with people having a good reason to pull an all nighter. Whether kids or business. Meaning makes us tick

It's an experimental study not an observational study. So that correlation won't have an effect here

Not so sure; the whole article is about people having a reason to pull an all nighter. Students mostly. That’s intense motivation breaking a stereotype, recipe for a high

Re: One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

#207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My anxiety now is that using THC to sleep will cause issues long term. But without it I literally cannot get to sleep anymore. Edit: I regret pulling focus off parent comment and OP, but also deeply appreciate everyone’s comments.

I had a period when I used THC (edibles) for sleep every night. This was one of the worst things I have ever done to myself. At first, you don't notice much side effects, but slowly it creeps up on you. It makes you depressed, depletes of any motivation, gives brain fog and you may just feel weird over all. When I quit I was amazed by how much better I started feeling and by how much my cognitive function improved. I…

Its odd to me that the "logical" and "scientific" types, or self-styled types, sing the praises of cannabis, but there's no mechanism in evolution to make this a healthy drug for us. Its just an accident of history it makes us high and that obviously comes with many costs as the blind watchmaker of evolution had no template for any of this.

Of course the drug war was a classist and racist thing and ultimately a failure because its propaganda couldn't keep up with people's desire for cannabis and the truth on how its far less dangerous than they were told. But to win politically you need to go big, so now we've over-corrected into cannabis being entirely harmless or even being a wonderdrug and cure-all, which obviously isn't true.

I see people on reddit recommend it for any number of health issues which I think is reckless and ignorant. A lot of these people have health issues that need to be treated. Covering up these issues with cannabis isn't going to help in the long run. Worse, almost zero discussion on how cannabis can trigger lifelong schizophrenia for people who have schizophrenia in their family and have latest schizophrenia that otherwise would have remained dormant for a long time, even the rest of their lives.

It reminds me a bit of the crony capitalism that kept stevia from being used as a sweetener. Society over-corrected with that as well, and honestly it tastes kinda terrible. And like all sweetners, who knows if its healthy. I don't think the blind watchmaker was expecting sweetness with no calories the same way she didn't expect being able to artificially shoot up your dopamine and serotonin with things like cannabis.

I don't think modern people realize how unbelievably delicate our bodies and mind are and how many 'ordinary' things are reckless and risky experimentation on us. I think we're still in this 19th century mindset of "conquering nature with science," which is obviously a pretty flawed premise and poor social philosophy. I'm not sure if its even possible for a capitalist technological society to leave that mindset.

Re: One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

#209
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went several years more or less depressed and observed this phenomenon and utilized it. Night of Kerbal Space Program and next day the world is much better. For a while. Also, a lot fuzzier. And I couldn't code very well (just good enough to do my job so everyone was happy but I could feel slipping). Therapy and SSRI:s worked much better in the end. But, for sure in a pinch it does alleviate unbearable darkness. Th…

> Therapy and SSRI:s worked much better in the end. How did you find that therapy helped you? I've started therapy a few months back and so far I can't find all that much value in it. They can't fix any of the stuff that is making me depressed, so it mostly feels like I'm mainly getting self help style advice.

In my experience, therapy mainly seems to be a validation and enablement service, on a very big scale. If this is something you're not necessarily seeking, you'll find therapy useless. But a lot of people want it, feel better because of it, and are therefore willing to fork over not insignificant sums to receive it.

Re: One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

#210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If all you need is a refill on a prescription you’ve been taking for 10 years, how is that “cowboy” prescribing? Also, these are trained professionals with years of education we’re talking about, not some random dude off the street.

anti depressants (and other drugs) have side effects, both in the short term and the long. Patients who want drugs may lie. Trained professionals, yes exactly, but need to have practical experience in an area of medicine to be an effective advocate for the patient. I can't even believe I'm having to defend this position in front of this crowd, but now many GP's dismissed the symptoms of women's post-partum depression…

> but now many GP's dismissed the symptoms of women's post-partum depression

Weird example given you're arguing against GPs prescribing antidepressants because patients may lie.

And I'd like to see someone lying to get SSRIs out of all the possible choices.

Post reply on HN