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Study shows: Lack of sleep makes us over emotional


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Is the world as a whole sleep deprived? ;)

 

 

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2007/10/22_sleeploss.shtml

It has long been assumed that sleep deprivation can play havoc with our emotions.

 

This is notably apparent in soldiers in combat zones, medical residents and even new parents. Now there's a neurological basis for this theory, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley, and Harvard Medical School.

 

In the first neural investigation into what happens to the emotional brain without sleep, results from a brain imaging study suggest that while a good night's rest can regulate your mood and help you cope with the next day's emotional challenges, sleep deprivation does the opposite by excessively boosting the part of the brain most closely connected to depression, anxiety and other psychiatric disorders.

 

<...>

 

"The emotional centers of the brain were over 60 percent more reactive under conditions of sleep deprivation than in subjects who had obtained a normal night of sleep," Walker said.

 

 

More at the link above. What do you think?

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not surprising at all, but interesting to have a study done on it.

 

I always seem to fight with my girlfriend the most when I talk to her on the phone and we're about to go to bed.

 

I always wake up the next morning wondering what the hell I was so angry about nothing. Thanks for this, I'll forward it to her.

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This article makes a lot of sense now. I work rotating shiftwork and constantly find myself near panic attacks, moody, depressed, paraniod, etc...basically "out of control" inside my mind.

 

Don't work rotating shifts. It is very bad for your health, and shouldn't be allowed IMO.

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Don't work rotating shifts. It is very bad for your health, and shouldn't be allowed IMO.

 

Does anybody know if cops still work swing shifts?

Years ago, my dad was a cop and one month he would work 11pm to 7am. The next would be 7am to 3pm. Then 3pm to 11pm. And then all over again...

It was murder.

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People work where the money is. My mom was a paramedic and also worked in a hospital. 12 hour shifts here, 16 hour shifts there. She made sure the bills were paid, and said bollocks to the impact on her emotional state. There are priorities, but clearly the amydalal psyche suffered.

 

Which I suppose begs the question. Are too many people sacrificing psychological and relational health to "get by" economically?

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Ahem. I once had a (quite well-paid) job working for a large conglomerate who are an outsourcing business (some of you may guess which it is), and started a day job "learning the ropes" and waiting for some training, and for a team to be gathered (hired).

The "team" was a group who would be on shift work (12 hours) for 4 days, then 4 days of night shifts, then 4 days off. I though this sounded ok, and the dosh was ok too. But I found I couldn't handle the switch between sleeping at night and then during the day (I suspect other members of the group also had problems, but they may have had more reasons to stick around, like a family to feed, say).

Needless to say, I started falling asleep at my desk. When I didn't respond to a "serious fault", but slept through it, my "co-ordinator" decided it was time for a chat, at which I more or less told him to save the lecture and handed my resignation over. I didn't have too many concerns about being out of work, because people would often ring me with job offers -but I felt kind of sorry for the other dudes (well for a little while, anyway).

But I distinctly recall a feeling of being "wired" all the time, and sort of "not there". Not very nice, but there must be people with worse working hours (bus drivers, say).

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Not very nice, but there must be people with worse working hours (bus drivers, say).

Emergency room personnel, EMTs and paramedics, and police all come to mind pretty quickly for me.

 

Thanks for sharing your personal experience. I know a few guys in India right now who are on awful schedules and are significantly over tasked.

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  • 1 month later...
not surprising at all, but interesting to have a study done on it.

 

I always seem to fight with my girlfriend the most when I talk to her on the phone and we're about to go to bed.

 

I always wake up the next morning wondering what the hell I was so angry about nothing. Thanks for this, I'll forward it to her.

 

True that! I always find myself getting angry over the stupidest things when I am about to fall asleep. Then I will wake up feeling even more stupid for what I got so mad about!

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  • 2 months later...

I don't know, I don't ever really get too much sleep, and sometimes I come off as "emotionally numb"...hmmm...

however, it is an interesting idea I haven't heard about yet, I always thought it was the opposite.

 

Ecoli, as the Bright Eyes lyric goes:

"But what's so easy in the evening by the morning's such a drag...

...But what was normal in the evening by the morning seems insane"

(they don't rhyme because it's two different parts of the song"

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Sleep deprivation switches me into dragon mode.

Which I suppose is related to reptilian mode. :eek:

 

I'm not surprised by the findings. Certain militaries, which will remain namless, use sleep deprivation as a form of 'soft' torture do they not?

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There was an incredibly interesting 2 part story on 60 Minutes last night about sleep. Did you know that lack of sleep tends to lead to obesity? I sure didn't! Here's two 10-12 minute segments. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. :)

 

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3942130n&channel=/sections/60minutes/videoplayer3415.shtml

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3942132n&channel=/sections/60minutes/videoplayer3415.shtml

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Is the world as a whole sleep deprived? ;)

 

 

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2007/10/22_sleeploss.shtml

 

Thanks for this. I've been trying to convince my 15 year old to quit sneaking phone conversations with his girlfriend in the middle of the night and get some sleep! Teenagers are already emotionally charged, I think this would help and since it's not coming from me, maybe he'll believe it this time. :P

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He probably believed you already, but do you really think his hormones and his attraction to his girlfriend are going to be beaten by logic and pure information? I remember being 15. I never wanted to hang up that phone with the girls. He's got his whole life to sleep.

 

 

I think a better solution would be to have his girlfriend sleep over. ;)

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