4 ms·

Is this person insane? Four hours of sleep and six cups of coffee per day? Lay off the drugs and get a good 8 hours sleep.

by Flankk 5y ago

ecshafer 5y ago
To give them the benefit of the doubt. They say " was dreading a lengthy day at the hospital", which makes me think they may be a MD resident, or similar with horrid schedules.
senectus1 5y ago
used to do this a lot. still recovering from it. I suspect my mind is permanently damaged in subtle ways from this behaviour. either that or 47 is "wind down time" for my brain
- the_only_law 5y ago
  Yeah this is probably not too far from my daily routine, except replace coffees with energy drinks. Though I oversleep significantly on the weekends (normally aided by the effects/after effects of shit that’s worse for my brain). It very obviously has major negative effects, but I just can’t bring myself to change it. I’ve tried once or twice, but I always return to this. If life was a little more flexible, I think I could pull off biphasic sleep and be ok, but when I want to sleep I usually have meetings and when I’m wide awake it’s usual the middle of the night (writing this at 3:25am).
  - senectus1 5y ago
    A bit like exercise you need to : a) be fairly rigid with it b) turn it into a habit. If you don't you're going to have burn out. not just emotionally but physically. I had a fit that the Dr put down to poor sleep and eating habits. It took me weeks to get over the immediate effect of the fit, I felt like I'd been worked over with a baseball bat. I used that recovery time to go cold turkey on caffeine (if I'm going to feel like crap i might as well have a good reason for it), I limit myself to tea only now, and only 1-3 cups a day. I eat a lot better and I go bike riding a few times a week. I get at least 6 1/2 hours a sleep a night, and aim for 7-8. its worth noting that while there is evidence for sleep debt, there is no evidence that oversleeping helps correct it.
maxerickson 5y ago
What's wrong with 5 cups of coffee a day?
- Flankk 5y ago
  Studies show that moderate caffeine consumption (2-4 cups per day) has beneficial health effects. Excess consumption is linked to adverse effects. There is an optimal dose when it comes to caffeine. Building up tolerance to where you need six or more cups is where you get into trouble.
  - TameAntelope 5y ago
    I doubt the studies show such a stark drop off at cup 5 that it's "insane" or anything...
- CrazyPyroLinux 5y ago
  Missing out on that 6th cup!
  - DarylZero 5y ago
    Coffee doesn't even do anything when you take that much of it all the time.
andai 5y ago
They work in a hospital. I hear 4 hours a night is normal in med school. If I'm not mistaken, that same culture of chronic sleep deprivation is also present in hospitals, so they don't seem like an outlier to me. Perhaps someone with more experience can confirm this.
- nnoitra 5y ago
  It's absurd really. Sleep deprived doctors with heavily impacted short-term memories are making life and death decisions for patients.
3a2d29 5y ago
Only partially related, but I am so surprised that lack of sleep seems to be normalized in the medical industry (or at least appear to be, I am not a doctor). I would think we would want doctor's brains running at 100%
- a9h74j 5y ago
  Just had a surgery. Was joking with the nurse that they will study the exact temperature for a warm air-blanket and every other variable, but will never study how much sleep a resident needs to get.

Is this person insane? Four hours of sleep and six cups of coffee per day? Lay off the drugs and get a good 8 hours sleep.

by Flankk 5y ago

Is this person insane? Four hours of sleep and six cups of coffee per day? Lay off the drugs and get a good 8 hours sleep.

ecshafer 5y ago

To give them the benefit of the doubt. They say " was dreading a lengthy day at the hospital", which makes me think they may be a MD resident, or similar with horrid schedules.

senectus1 5y ago

used to do this a lot. still recovering from it. I suspect my mind is permanently damaged in subtle ways from this behaviour. either that or 47 is "wind down time" for my brain

the_only_law 5y ago
Yeah this is probably not too far from my daily routine, except replace coffees with energy drinks. Though I oversleep significantly on the weekends (normally aided by the effects/after effects of shit that’s worse for my brain). It very obviously has major negative effects, but I just can’t bring myself to change it. I’ve tried once or twice, but I always return to this. If life was a little more flexible, I think I could pull off biphasic sleep and be ok, but when I want to sleep I usually have meetings and when I’m wide awake it’s usual the middle of the night (writing this at 3:25am).
- senectus1 5y ago
  A bit like exercise you need to : a) be fairly rigid with it b) turn it into a habit. If you don't you're going to have burn out. not just emotionally but physically. I had a fit that the Dr put down to poor sleep and eating habits. It took me weeks to get over the immediate effect of the fit, I felt like I'd been worked over with a baseball bat. I used that recovery time to go cold turkey on caffeine (if I'm going to feel like crap i might as well have a good reason for it), I limit myself to tea only now, and only 1-3 cups a day. I eat a lot better and I go bike riding a few times a week. I get at least 6 1/2 hours a sleep a night, and aim for 7-8. its worth noting that while there is evidence for sleep debt, there is no evidence that oversleeping helps correct it.

maxerickson 5y ago

What's wrong with 5 cups of coffee a day?

Flankk 5y ago
Studies show that moderate caffeine consumption (2-4 cups per day) has beneficial health effects. Excess consumption is linked to adverse effects. There is an optimal dose when it comes to caffeine. Building up tolerance to where you need six or more cups is where you get into trouble.
- TameAntelope 5y ago
  I doubt the studies show such a stark drop off at cup 5 that it's "insane" or anything...
CrazyPyroLinux 5y ago
Missing out on that 6th cup!
- DarylZero 5y ago
  Coffee doesn't even do anything when you take that much of it all the time.

andai 5y ago

They work in a hospital. I hear 4 hours a night is normal in med school. If I'm not mistaken, that same culture of chronic sleep deprivation is also present in hospitals, so they don't seem like an outlier to me. Perhaps someone with more experience can confirm this.

nnoitra 5y ago
It's absurd really. Sleep deprived doctors with heavily impacted short-term memories are making life and death decisions for patients.

3a2d29 5y ago

Only partially related, but I am so surprised that lack of sleep seems to be normalized in the medical industry (or at least appear to be, I am not a doctor). I would think we would want doctor's brains running at 100%

a9h74j 5y ago
Just had a surgery. Was joking with the nurse that they will study the exact temperature for a warm air-blanket and every other variable, but will never study how much sleep a resident needs to get.