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Can insomnia kill you?

I learned in my psych class (unless I misheard or misinterpreted the prof) that sleep deprivation does not kill you.

But if you experience insomnia (and chances are, you are misdiagnosing your problems) and it bothers you, you should see a specialist asap. Or at least see your family doctor and ask for suggestions.
 
Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
I haven't had a full/decent nights sleep since 1968. Live with it.

BTW, yes I have been to doctors/shrinks etc.
Click to expand...

Have you tried those sleep clinics?
 
Originally posted by: joohang
I learned in my psych class (unless I misheard or misinterpreted the prof) that sleep deprivation does not kill you.

But if you experience insomnia (and chances are, you are misdiagnosing your problems) and it bothers you, you should see a specialist asap. Or at least see your family doctor and ask for suggestions.
Click to expand...

Actually, sleep deprivation CAN kill you... and i learned that in psych class. At least in animals that is.
 
Originally posted by: Moralpanic
Originally posted by: joohang
I learned in my psych class (unless I misheard or misinterpreted the prof) that sleep deprivation does not kill you.

But if you experience insomnia (and chances are, you are misdiagnosing your problems) and it bothers you, you should see a specialist asap. Or at least see your family doctor and ask for suggestions.
Click to expand...

Actually, sleep deprivation CAN kill you... and i learned that in psych class. At least in animals that is.
Click to expand...

That is so weird. Maybe I misheard the prof then.

Or perhaps sleep deprivation does not directly kill you but may indirectly trigger other possible causes of death?
 
Originally posted by: joohang
Originally posted by: Moralpanic
Originally posted by: joohang
I learned in my psych class (unless I misheard or misinterpreted the prof) that sleep deprivation does not kill you.

But if you experience insomnia (and chances are, you are misdiagnosing your problems) and it bothers you, you should see a specialist asap. Or at least see your family doctor and ask for suggestions.
Click to expand...

Actually, sleep deprivation CAN kill you... and i learned that in psych class. At least in animals that is.
Click to expand...

That is so weird. Maybe I misheard the prof then.

Or perhaps sleep deprivation does not directly kill you but may indirectly trigger other possible causes of death?
Click to expand...

I remember quite clearly it can kill... it was one of those shocking facts that stick with you when you first hear it:

Experiments have not been done to demonstrate that enough sleep deprivation can kill people, but have demonstrated that it can kill animals.
Click to expand...

Why sleep?
 
I don't know exactly what you mean by insomnia but I used to stay up all night a couple times a week. I did pass out once but I don't know that it was because of not sleeping .. it's happened to me before.
 
And it was clearly the sleep deprivation that killed those animals... you could tell by the brain waves... at first, sleep deprivation caused erratic brain waves, like they were excited, but eventually they decreased and decreased, until eventually they simply stopped.
 
Interesting. Thanks. I'll give that a read some time tomorrow. 3 exams today. 😀 I should get off this place, shouldn't I? 🙂
 
At least we know that sleep deprivation can kill people who fall asleep or are especially tired at the wheel, operating heavy machinery, falling from high places at the jobsite, etc.

Chronic sleep deprivation does result in overall poorer health, academic and work performance, or lesser quality of life (family/social). Obstructive sleep apnea can significantly increase one's risk of a heart attack.

There is generally no reliable way to assess sleep deprivation by the number of hours you sleep. Just because you routinely get 6 hours of sleep does not, by the '8 hour' conventional wisdom, necessarily mean you're sleep deprived. Individual needs vary, and if you seem to do well enough on 6 hours of sleep, then stick with what seems to work well for you.

Sleep deprivation is almost entirely a performance based standard. There's generally no problem unless there's a problem. Fatigue, bouts of excessive sleepiness throughout the day, difficulty in concentrating, 'nodding' off in inappropriate situations (in the classroom, at work, taking a test at the DMV, at stoplights, while driving), may all be symptoms of sleep deprivation.
 
Originally posted by: joohang
Originally posted by: Moralpanic
Originally posted by: joohang
I learned in my psych class (unless I misheard or misinterpreted the prof) that sleep deprivation does not kill you.

But if you experience insomnia (and chances are, you are misdiagnosing your problems) and it bothers you, you should see a specialist asap. Or at least see your family doctor and ask for suggestions.
Click to expand...

Actually, sleep deprivation CAN kill you... and i learned that in psych class. At least in animals that is.
Click to expand...

That is so weird. Maybe I misheard the prof then.

Or perhaps sleep deprivation does not directly kill you but may indirectly trigger other possible causes of death?
Click to expand...

My psych prof told us about some italian family who stop sleeping (completely) at some point in adulthood, and generally die a couple years later.

edit: link
 
No, you can't die from lack of sleep.
But I fall asleep, I wake up in strange places, I don't know where I've been. Can't you just give me something?
*Red and blue tubinals, lipstick red secondals.*
No, you need healthy, natural sleep. Chew some valarian root before bed, and get more exercise.
Come on, you've got to give me something, I'm in pain here!
Pain? If you want to see pain stop by First Methodist on Tuesday night and see the guys with testicular cancer. Now thats pain.

Ryan "I am Jack's smirking revenge"
 
Originally posted by: Moralpanic
And it was clearly the sleep deprivation that killed those animals... you could tell by the brain waves... at first, sleep deprivation caused erratic brain waves, like they were excited, but eventually they decreased and decreased, until eventually they simply stopped.
Click to expand...

Yup. They kept these rats on a rotating wheel next to a wall that prevented them from sleeping. After a period of time, the rats just died of exhaustion.
 
I have gone without sleep long enough that at one point I started to hallucinate.

Lately, my body's need for sleep has been manifesting itself with narcolepsy-like symptoms. Falling asleep sitting at the computer, standing in place, walking around at work, etc.
 
Originally posted by: rgwalt
No, you can't die from lack of sleep.
But I fall asleep, I wake up in strange places, I don't know where I've been. Can't you just give me something?
*Red and blue tubinals, lipstick red secondals.*
No, you need healthy, natural sleep. Chew some valarian root before bed, and get more exercise.
Come on, you've got to give me something, I'm in pain here!
Pain? If you want to see pain stop by First Methodist on Tuesday night and see the guys with testicular cancer. Now thats pain.

Ryan "I am Jack's smirking revenge"
Click to expand...

You left out "What about narcolepsy?" in the second line.

*see sig
 
Originally posted by: Elitebull
Originally posted by: rgwalt
No, you can't die from lack of sleep.
But I fall asleep, I wake up in strange places, I don't know where I've been. Can't you just give me something?
*Red and blue tubinals, lipstick red secondals.*
No, you need healthy, natural sleep. Chew some valarian root before bed, and get more exercise.
Come on, you've got to give me something, I'm in pain here!
Pain? If you want to see pain stop by First Methodist on Tuesday night and see the guys with testicular cancer. Now thats pain.

Ryan "I am Jack's smirking revenge"
Click to expand...

You left out "What about narcolepsy?" in the second line.

*see sig
Click to expand...

I am Jack's raging bile duct.

Ryan
 
Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
I haven't had a full/decent nights sleep since 1968. Live with it.

BTW, yes I have been to doctors/shrinks etc.
Click to expand...
I don't want to bring up a taboo subject, but was it Vietnam? I know a few people who are still tormented from it. I know there's nothing I can say to help, but I hope that things are at least getting slowly better for you.

ZV
 
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