Sleep Deprivation May Spur Serious Mental Problems, Study Finds

Oooh oooh, can I be "Correlation does not equal causation" guy in this thread?

Seriously though, the actual article is probably much more useful than the headline, since they have presumably actually quantified the extent of the correlation between insomnia and other health problems.

The other thing I learned is that there's a journal called Sleep.

> The Pennsylvania researchers tracked 1,741 middle aged volunteers who completed a questionnaire on their sleep history, underwent a physical exam and were monitored overnight in a sleep laboratory. The death rate exceeded 50 percent for men with chronic insomnia, compared with 9.1 percent of those who slept well, after researchers adjusted for differences such as weight and smoking habits.

Huh? 9% of the normal men died, and half of those with insomnia? How long did they follow them for?

Definitely not the article you want to read because it is 4 in the morning and you can't sleep... shit.

Ah, hell. I should go to bed, then.

Anecdote: I have Obstructive Sleep Apnea, which meant that for a good while I was getting virtually no REM sleep every night.

After I got it fixed, I was talking to my doc. He said that he had seen a couple people who were locked up due to psychiatric problems who actually were really suffering from sleep disorders. Once the sleeping problem was fixed, they no longer needed medication or institutionalization.

Powerful stuff, even if it's just second-hand stories.