#chronic sleep deprivation

[redd956]

When the doc confirms stress is literally killing you

My nervous system is fried 😊

[bengals-barnesbabe]

Everyone in my life: How much sleep did you get last night?

Me: *blinks* ummm

The people that really know me: How many stories did you come up with last night?

Me: *smiles in sleep deprivation* MY DRAFTS WENT FROM 15 to 20 IN ONE DAY!

My followers: Where’s Track 9?

Me: … she’s in the drafts, just very far down.🫥

My best friend: You need to be knocked out.

Me: I didn’t feel like closing my eyes.

Best friend, again: *blinks in frustration* How do you function on no sleep and one real meal?

Me: vibes

My therapist and psychiatrist are very unhappy with me lol

[whoselabelisitanyway]

Hello i couldn't help but notice that u offered urself up as a resource for info abt N24 (sorry if i got that wrong, feel free to ignore this.) So as someone who very recently found out abt it and also probably has it, do u have any resources? Links or articles or anything for me to look at? Anything you could/want to share abt it??

Hey! Yes, I'm happy to write about my experience with N24. (It's not fun, but it's reality for many people.) The sad thing is that I don't actually have many online resources as far as articles and such. A quick internet search showed me Non-24-Hour Sleep Wake Disorder: Definition and Causes | Sleep Foundation which seemed to be a good overview (more articles linked at the bottom of the page). It's very clear that there hasn't been enough research done in a practical sense, though. Treatment options are few, and there aren't any that are at all flexible. Which, I'll just say it, sucks.

For me personally, my N24 is pretty severe, with my days lasting about 30 hours or such, so that I'm awake for something like 20 hours at a time. None of the treatment options presented to me (melatonin and/or light therapy) were effective (I have unusual environmental factors against me, though). That doesn't mean you shouldn't try them, IMHO - but I would caution you against accepting whatever sedatives doctors are handing out these days. If that's their initial reaction/treatment advise, ask them if that medication is approved and tested effective for long term usage. (It won't be - if I'm wrong, lmk, because I'd like to be wrong.)

Lastly, I'll tell you a bit about how I got my diagnosis. The biggest factor was a comprehensive sleep diary. Sometimes they'll ask you to do a sleep study as well, to rule out other sleep disorders. A sleep diary is crucial in helping the specialist evaluate the progressive time changes in your sleep patterns. I recommend getting a low-cost sports watch (with a small profile so it's comfortable to sleep in) if you don't already have one. That was a huge help to me when I was documenting my sleep patterns.

I hope that helps! I wish I could give you better news, but I do believe it's preferable to know what you're dealing with than to not - even if it's not something with an easy fix. Let me know if you have any other questions - I am not a sleep doctor or physician, but I can speak to the realities of living with N24. If I can help others at all, I like to. Good luck!

[prankprincess123]

I couldn't sleep because my ears were ringing, so I googled 'why do my ears start ringing whenever I try to go to sleep?' and one research rabbit hole later, I discovered that this is a symptom pretty much only associated with chronic sleep deprivation.

And honestly, that would explain so much...

[fantome-sans-opera]

Can't believe I missed it . How did I miss it?

[tesslucetram]

Hmmm... reading through this list was concerning. Like, check, check, check, oh shit...

Now I'm wondering if my suddenly forced two months off is not secretly a good thing. Granted, I broke my leg and just had surgery, but the ability to fall asleep whenever right now is nice. And everyone expects me to sleep anyway. I can just doze or really crash and everyone is like, yeah, sure, do your thing. Make sure you drink some water when you wake up.

Maybe the universe was trying to tell me something and finally got sick of my ass ignoring it. I don't know. Silver linings and all that jazz, I guess.

Whump Tips: Chronic Sleep Deprivation Edition

I’m back again, this time with some sleep deprivation. One thing I see a lot of is chronic sleep deprivation (two+ months) being written as similar to acute/short-term sleep deprivation (24-200 hours). It’s not! It’s actually very different! Don’t ask me how I know this, you don’t want to know. 

Now, down to business: what to keep in mind when writing a character with chronic sleep deprivation. 

Chronic sleep deprivation can be hard to detect, especially if your character thinks of themself as “not having it that bad,” “being a wimp,” or “needing to suck it up.” Five or less hours of sleep a night over two to six months can have hellish effects on your character’s physical and mental health.

Fever symptoms with no fever: your character might be baffled to discover that they’re not feverish, seeing as they’ve been cold and achy for days, suffering from hot flashes and waking up in the middle of the night confused and sore. Maybe they’re even running a low-grade fever, but most of the symptoms seem to be without cause. 

You know the thing when you’ve sat for too long and you stand up and your vision goes black? That will happen to your whumpee all the time. They’ll need to be careful, as sudden movements could cause them to pass out or feel as if they might pass out. 

This can also happen when climbing stairs, running, or otherwise exerting themself. “I’m about to pass out,” is a common thought of the chronically exhausted. 

Changes in appetite are also common, either leading to under or overeating. This can be accompanied by weight gain/loss. Your body has no clue what signals to send you. 

Headaches. This is pretty typical, but sleep deprivation makes you prone to constant headaches. Your character might also get tension headaches of the sort that originates at the back of the head and burns under the skin. 

Nausea is common, especially when your exhausted character is running on even less sleep than usual. 

Confusion or brain fog that intensifies as the exhaustion goes on. 

Insomnia. Yes, insomnia. If your character hasn’t had enough sleep in months, the sleep they do get will start to degrade, both in quality and quantity. 

Inability to stay awake/falling asleep at inappropriate times. Your character might fall asleep any time they sit down, be it in the classroom, on the job, or behind the wheel. For extra Whump Points, have other characters get mad at them for this. 

Sudden decline in mental health. Exhausted characters will likely experience acute anxiety and depression, up to and including frequent (3/week or more) panic attacks and frequent thoughts of suicide. These thoughts may be idle/intrusive thoughts, or they may be along the lines of, “I don’t want to die, but death would be better than living in this hell.”

Panic attacks upon waking up. If your character isn’t sleeping, there’s likely a reason and it’s probably that they’re too busy to sleep. Waking up is hell if you feel like you shouldn’t have fallen asleep in the first place.

These mental problems will isolate your character and exacerbate feelings of inadequacy. Feeling as though they are at fault, your character may push themself more, take on more tasks, and sleep less in an effort to prove themself. 

Sleep deprivation isn’t always obvious from the outside and can cause enough irritability and personality changes to drive people away. Your character is alone, exhausted, and extremely mentally ill. This cannot be rectified with a night of sleep. 

Sleep deprivation of this sort can take months to recover from and can, given the proper context and cause, be traumatizing.

Basically, your whumpee is in pain, anxious, depressed, and isolated for months at a time, and will probably begin to think they deserve it. Chronic sleep deprivation is so much better than acute. Use it. 

[dreadark]

wtf is 1:30-5:30

[chronicsymptomsyndrome]

“Winners don’t hit snooze” drop dead actually. Fucking die.

Winners don’t go around assuming everyone is just as privileged and healthy and well rested as them

Winners don’t shame others for whatever accommodations they might need to maintain a decent quality of life

Winners don’t act like pretentious ableist assholes in fact I’m pretty sure winners are perceptive open-minded kind and understanding. Idk

[my-wife-doesnt-approve]

Demons, small children, six of one, half dozen the other

[wishkhh]

chronically eepy and that's ok

[bra1n-d3ad]

How I’ve felt every time I’ve gone to sleep since I was a child btw

[totally-correct-star-wars]

Obi-Wan: I haven't slept in seventy-three hours. Ki Adi Mundi: Eighty. Democratically elected leader of insomnia. Depa Billaba: It's been ninety for me. I'm going for an even one hundred. Kit Fisto: You guys are terrifying.

[whoselabelisitanyway]

My all-the-time reality.

[shittymalevolentheadcanons]

Arthur's eyes are constantly irritated cuz he doesn't get enough sleep

no wonder he makes such poor decisions, his eyes hurt and hes so EEPY!!!!

[hana-bobo-finch]

I’m so used to being constantly sleep deprived that it. fuckging showed up in my pikmin dream like it’s a normal thing? dingus just casually had severe sleep issues in my dream?? my brain is projecting my issues onto dingo WHO’S READY FOR THE SLEEP DEPRIVED DINGO AU

[calicocrisis]

It appears that I don’T remember crap because I don’t get enough sleep at night