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Sleeping feels so fleeting, you close your eyes and poof there go 8 hours(not to say that it isn't beneficial or necessary of course). To work 8 hours, sleep, a
by mym1990 6y ago
Sleeping feels so fleeting, you close your eyes and poof there go 8 hours(not to say that it isn't beneficial or necessary of course). To work 8 hours, sleep, and then work another 8 hours felt not much different than just working 16 hours with a small break in the middle. So I would stay up for a while to have fun at the expense of the next day...and probably many days thereafter.
- kayodelycaon 6y agoIt gets worse when sleep isn't fleeting. Waking up every two hours and then struggling to get back to sleep really draws out the misery of working long hours. Note: Before anyone tries to give me advice, my depressive episodes cause primary insomnia. Whatever you think will work, won't. It's been tried.
- shakhahxhcj 6y agoEver tried mirtazapine? It’s an antidepressant that’s also a sedative. You take it every night before bed. Works great for me.
- kayodelycaon 6y agoWhat part of no advice... sigh No. I'd like to avoid my psychiatrist sending me to the ER again.
- robocat 6y agoA question: why do you personally believe the causality is depression causes insomnia? Alternatively why do you not think that insomnia causes depression?
- kayodelycaon 6y agoPersonally believe...? I've been diagnosed Bipolar 1 by a psychiatrist. Primary insomnia is a known symptom of depressive episodes. Uncommon to be sure, but not unknown. And to prove it really is primary insomnia, let me walk you through the three different kinds of insomnia I deal with. 1. Anxiety-related insomnia. Rare. My brain is stuck in a feedback loop. 2. Manic insomnia. Occasionally. My brain running overclocked and I don't feel tired. Imagine trying to sleep while doing lines of cocaine. 3. Depression insomnia. Common. My body can sleep but brain cannot sleep. I can lay in bed for eight hours, motionless and thoughtless while being fully conscious of every moment while my body rests. I get up with my body feeling great and my mind exhausted.
- robocat 6y agoSorry, I was just trying to grok how you understand things to help me learn. I hope I didn’t come across as attacking you. Completely off-topic, but I am interested in the science of psychological diagnoses, because a diagnosis is usually a recognition of a cluster of symptoms, and only sometimes is a cause given. Funnily enough, before you mentioned it, I didn’t know what ‘primary insomnia’ meant. A definition for others: “Traditionally, a distinction has been made between secondary insomnia, which arises due to another condition, and primary insomnia where a patient has problems sleeping but where there is no underlying medical cause. However, this distinction is now considered less important because:” from https://bpac.org.nz/2017/insomnia-1.aspx https://bpac.org.nz/2017/insomnia-1.aspx Trying to understand causes is an epically hard road, as shown by the slow progress in non-psych medicine over the last century. Especially hard if your own mind is throwing roadblocks in the way (mental tar pit, manic disinformation, delusions, time 110% dedicated to surviving with no spare cycles). All the best fortune on your journey.
- tremon 6y agoyou close your eyes and poof there go 8 hours I wish I could say that about myself. Since a few months, I often lie awake for hours waiting for sleep to come along and poof the night away. More often than not, it takes until 3am for me to fall asleep, and I feel as broken as you might expect the next morning. I don't really have a good handle on what changed, or how to get back into my old sleep cycle. I just know it's annoying as hell.
- airstrike 6y agoThe first tip a "sleep doctor" will give you is to cut caffeine. Have you tried that?
- kaybe 6y agoI just saw a note this week that in cases like this it might be good to ask 'what have you tried?' before giving any advice. Maybe HN should get into that habit.
- airstrike 6y agoWhy? If they decide to share their personal story online, at the very least they should expect to get replies from people who may relate to it and are willing to share their own experiences for what they're worth. If they get offended by that advice, the issue is on them, not me. Also, ironically enough, your comment is actually the unsolicited advice in the thread...
- kaybe 6y agoI guess you're right, both comments are, since nobody asked for advice. I chose this point to invite this discussion, but could have used one of the many others in the same vein as well. What is a good reaction to someone stating their plight but not actually asking for help?
- airstrike 6y ago