Have you considered you may have a sleep disorder such as sleep apnea?
You could ask your doctor to arrange a sleep study...
Best of luck to you.
Nathan_miami wrote:
> 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
