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Impacts of lack of sleep

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Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#31

Post by xyzelement »

000ooo000 wrote: post #5

For me, I find my sleep suffers because of what some describe as "revenge bedtime procrastination". When my job is shit (i.e. now), I'm more inclined to stay on the PC later doing things that bring me some level of joy, or play games to escape the mind spinning its wheels. I seem to more easily recognise that my job is unfulfilling because I'm staying up later or I'm dreading going to bed. Going to bed early for a go…

Quick advice - see if you can shift that to getting up earlier. You will probably spend the couple of hours in the morning in a way that sets you up for a better day vs staying up late sets you up for a bad tomorrow.

I say this as an always "late" person who now tries to get up at 5 to work out and reflect, it's been very helpful.

Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#32

Post by hannofcart »

A key thing to note is that if you have sleep apnea, even if you think you're getting 7-8 hrs of sleep, you likely aren't.

If you (or likely your partner) suspects you have apnea, talk to your doctor.

Doing a sleep study/test and getting treatment for apnea will likely transform your life for the better.

Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#33

Post by Aurornis »

markus_zhang wrote: post #18

I have been missing sleep since child was born. The post is pretty accurate. I now fully understand why some people don't want to get kids.

It can be difficult, but it's also just a blip on the radar.

I don't know if this is your first or second, but I found that everything was significantly easier the second time around. I didn't realize how much my wife and I had learned to handle things more efficiently and split the load better over time.

You learn quickly.

> I now fully understand why some people don't want to get kids.

I don't know about that. I think the current trend is greatly overestimating the lifetime impact of some of these short-term difficulties of child raising. If someone actually wants kids but avoids it because they don't want their sleep inconvenienced for a couple percent of their entire life, I'd question if they're weighing the tradeoffs appropriately. It's a choice for the rest of your life, but some people treat it like those first several months are the entirety of the decision making process, which is weird.

Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#34

Post by petemir »

guidoism wrote: post #28
elteto wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I’m fairly confident that the lack of sleep during my first child’s first two years permanently altered my brain in way that has seriously affected my ability to do my job. I think there is research to back my claim that sleep can change your brain just as trauma does.

Another anecdote, but I remember someone here commenting that after several days without sleep he got his amygdala (maybe?) physically damaged and that permanently f-ed up his sleep schedule.

As a terminal procrastinator who frequently pulls all-nighters (this year I even got to two in 3 days) I was terrified (and apparently decided to never comply with any deadline anymore, but that's another story).

Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#35

Post by xyzelement »

markus_zhang wrote: post #18

I have been missing sleep since child was born. The post is pretty accurate. I now fully understand why some people don't want to get kids.

Any parent will tell you that having kids is not going to help your sleep, but most parents find sacrifice unequivocally worth it on the net.

Not sure if this is truly what you meant but I would find it highly abnormal that a child does not bring your sufficient joy and meaning that would offset sleep loss.

Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#36

Post by markus_zhang »

Aurornis wrote: post #33
markus_zhang wrote: post #18

I have been missing sleep since child was born. The post is pretty accurate. I now fully understand why some people don't want to get kids.

It can be difficult, but it's also just a blip on the radar. I don't know if this is your first or second, but I found that everything was significantly easier the second time around. I didn't realize how much my wife and I had learned to handle things more efficiently and split the load better over time. You learn quickly. > I now fully understand why some people don't want to get kids. I don't know about that. I th…

I also heard that the second is easier, but it is still some drain so we decided not to get a second one. I think it really depends on 1) How much energy one has stored before getting the kid, and 2) How easy/difficult the kid could be.

It's definitely not just a few months. It has been 3 years for me and I don't really think it's going to end soon. Again this is just personal, not an average experience.

Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#37

Post by atmosx »

mmanfrin wrote: post #3

I'd wager most people here who don't get enough sleep aren't doing so out of some sort of grindset mentality, but because they simply cannot. I find it very hard to fall asleep, nearly impossible to sleep in (a consequence of getting older?), and more interrupted sleep. I'm reticent to try drugs to enable sleep because I've heard that the sleep they provide is not true sleep.

Are you physically tired when trying to sleep? Without a level of physical activity is next to impossible to achieve a good night sleep.

Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#38

Post by 000ooo000 »

SoftTalker wrote: post #19
voidhorse wrote: post #11

Melatonin has been a complete game changer for me in this regard. I've struggled to get decent sleep since my late teens. I'm plagued by an overactive brain at night. About a year ago I started taking just 3mg of melatonin before bed and haven't looked back since. I'm sure my particular circumstances were such that it just happened to be my cureall and won't work for everyone, but if you have trouble sleeping and hav…

An ounce or two of bourbon works for me. Not enough to get intoxicated but just enough to feel warm and sleepy.

I hope I don't come across as the "well ackshually" guy, and I'm not definitely telling you to change, but maybe this could be useful to you: the alcohol episode of Huberman Lab podcast mentioned briefly at about 1:02:40 that in a discussion with a UC Berkley sleep researcher, it was said that having any alcohol at all on board interferes with sleep to the point that those in the field call it pseudo-sleep because it lacks most of the restorative value of sleep.

Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#39

Post by Aurornis »

behnamoh wrote: post #2

My partner suffers from this. She tried many solutions but to no vail. But it seems having an intentional period of wind down before bed (e.g., 1 hour on the couch, scrolling social media and listening to podcasts) helps. When she goes to bed after that, she never uses her phone and can sleep much better. I'm in the same boat except that I only go to bed when I'm absolutely completely drained and exhausted, which is…

> She tried many solutions but to no vail. But it seems having an intentional period of wind down before bed (e.g., 1 hour on the couch, scrolling social media and listening to podcasts) helps. When she goes to bed after that, she never uses her phone and can sleep much better.

It feels so strange to read posts where people rediscover the importance of basic sleep hygiene. Having some time to wind down and not using phones in bed are two of the most basic sleep hygiene practices around.

I'm curious what "many solutions" she tried before getting back to the basics, because the exact sleep hygiene practices you described are at the front of the list for things that doctors explore first with patients.

Unfortunately, some doctors and/or internet advice places skip straight to medications, supplements, and an assumption that the problem can only be addressed by chemical means. The number of people who jump straight to melatonin or even prescription sedatives without making any attempts to alter their daily practices is worrisome.

Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#40

Post by ToValueFunfetti »

hannofcart wrote: post #32

A key thing to note is that if you have sleep apnea, even if you think you're getting 7-8 hrs of sleep, you likely aren't. If you (or likely your partner) suspects you have apnea, talk to your doctor. Doing a sleep study/test and getting treatment for apnea will likely transform your life for the better.

Shockingly prevalent too, especially if you're male, and gets more common with age. ~90% of elderly men and ~80% of elderly women have apnea (I point to these stats because they're higher confidence, but somewhere between 1/20 and 1/3 among the general population).
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