Is there any medical research linking forced sleep deprivation and
depression? While I am fine when getting 7.5+ hours of sleep per night, I
become severely depressed and have suicidal ideations when I am forced to
get by on less than six (6) hours of sleep. My line of work (management
consulting) often requires me to work long hours and put in 80+ hours per
week. I would like to make the switch to Investment Banking where the hours
are even more grueling. However, I don't think I can handle the lack of
sleep.
For a while, I thought there was a possibility of my having a Chiari
malformation, which is a condition where a malformed skull pushing into the
brain stem. There is some evidence that this is the case as I get
excruciating pains when I sneeze hard (i.e. I feel like I am being burned
alive). One neurologist friend told me that this could be a result of a
Chiari malformation. Unfortunately, a brain MRI revealed no such condition.
My theory is that my brain is swelling slightly when I am sleep deprived.
During a sleep deprived state, I experience the following conditions:
depression and suicidal ideations, slurred speech, diarrhea, poor speech
processing, blurred vision, and dizziness. With the swelled brain, I would
suggest that motor control would go first followed by speech. This is in
fact the case -- when I get less than an adequate amount of sleep.
Any ideas/resources?
thanks in advance
