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Comment by patrickhogan1 | Hacker News Reader

Interestingly, while chronic sleep deprivation is harmful, studies show that a single night of sleep deprivation can have a rapid, temporary antidepressant effect in 40-60% of people with depression. I tried this after burning out on my third startup, and it helped me short-term when I needed it most. You can read more about the research Penn Medicine (https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2017/septemb...).

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So people that keep going to bed too late are self medicating?

Dan Gross, in his “How to Win” talk, discusses the Software Engineer’s (SWE) 25-hour cycle and emphasizes the importance of sleep for overall performance and well-being. I completely agree with his focus on sleep. The strategy mentioned above is meant as a temporary fix when healthier alternatives—like restful sleep, regular exercise, a balanced diet, or sauna use—aren’t effective. It also has an immediate effect, unlike many medications, making it a useful, isolated experiment.

https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxy4qdJ_dSU4Thv0MpGzqxJ8OYPfSvPW3...

There was a recent post that implied that in cases of acute trauma, staying awake might lead to better outcomes through less long term memory formation.

Sleep deprivation disrupts memory https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01732-y (3 months ago, 103 Comments, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40681345 )

Its probably not the same as chronic burnout or depression but in a way staying awake after a stressful day could be self medication.

A psychiatrist told me that sleep deprivation does have a proven anti-depressant effect, but that the side effects are very severe. Makes sense. He preferred the SSRIs.

There is a moment, when I've been up all night and am engaging with the world, that I feel a lack of anxiety and a mental clarity. It's like I've finally "sobered up." I think it's my body telling me "we need to sleep, none of this shit matters."

Sleep deprivation is very bad for you, though, so try something else instead.

Sleep deprivation is one of those last resort options that psychiatrists will consider if the normal treatments persistently fail. But yeah, do the normal stuff like SSRIs first.

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