3 ms·
I’m fairly confident that the lack of sleep during my first child’s first two years permanently altered my brain in way that has seriously affected my ability t
by guidoism 3y ago
I’m fairly confident that the lack of sleep during my first child’s first two years permanently altered my brain in way that has seriously affected my ability to do my job. I think there is research to back my claim that sleep can change your brain just as trauma does.
- cma 3y agoThe thing to realize is your (I am presuming) inflexible job was probably as responsible as your kid. They should let you work very flexible hours if you just had a kid unless by nature it just can't be done for that job.
- guidoism 3y agoReasonable assumption but in this case I was able to be flexible enough. The problem was my child not sleeping more than a couple hours at a time and our stupid adherence to the "baby should sleep in a different rule" in the US.
- petemir 3y agoAnother anecdote, but I remember someone here commenting that after several days without sleep he got his amygdala (maybe?) physically damaged and that permanently f-ed up his sleep schedule. As a terminal procrastinator who frequently pulls all-nighters (this year I even got to two in 3 days) I was terrified (and apparently decided to never comply with any deadline anymore, but that's another story).
- hotpotamus 3y agoI wonder how possible it is to permanently damage the brain without physically impacting it or rooting around in there. There are studies that show visible changes in the amygdala and other structures in the brain after 8 weeks of 15 minutes per day of mindfullness meditation for instance. One "side effect" of it for me has been noticeable memory improvements. The brain changes in response to stimuli for sure, but the changes may be reversible.