One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days
news.northwestern.edu
In a new study, researchers induced mild, acute sleep deprivation in mice and then examined their behaviors and brain activity. Not only did dopamine release increase during the acute sleep loss period, synaptic plasticity also was enhanced — literally rewiring the brain to maintain the bubbly mood for the next few days.
  • ComradeSharkfuckerEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    Yeah so that’s mania caused by sleep deprivation. I get that pretty often because I’m ADHD and have terrible insomnia. You get really excited about everything and all the things you enjoy are so much more enjoyable and it makes you want to sleep even less. It feels fucking great. However it is not fucking good for you and will not solve your depression. It just makes things better for a short while until you crash back down

    • Doug Holland@lemmy.worldOPMEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      Interesting, thanks. Do you think there’s any downside to a few days on the upside? Does the crash back down lead to a worse place than before, or is it again the same old same old?

      I’m forever insomniac, occasionally depressed, obviously interested in info on both, but I’ve never noticed any correlation or interaction between the two.

      • ComradeSharkfuckerEnglish
        1·
        11 months ago

        The crash usually doesn’t lead to a necessarily worse place, I personally tend to level out. However the few days following that sleepless night or two I tend to have some pretty violent mood swings.

        Honestly most people have done it on purpose before. You ever stay up late with a friend and suddenly everything is so much funnier? It’s basically that but to a further extreme. I have gone out of my way before to stay up for a night so I can experience this as a sort of high but it eventually makes me feel physically ill. I’ll have headaches and delirium as well as paranoia if I do it too much.

        It can be great fun to stay up for a night and joke about dumb stuff with a friend and there isn’t too much harm to that if you dont do it often. However sleep is very very important for your mind and body; foregoing it on any regular occasion or in excess for a short stint can really fuck you up bad.

        • Doug Holland@lemmy.worldOPMEnglish
          1·
          11 months ago

          Honestly most people have done it on purpose before. You ever stay up late with a friend and suddenly everything is so much funnier?

          That’s a perfect explanation. Hadn’t grasped it until you said it.

          Never had mood swings. Not to chuckle at a serious problem, but I’d be curious to see if a sleepless night brings 'em on. Maybe tonight, it’s the weekend…