shAzb0t

For the past, oh... 6 months, my sleeping schedule has been really up in the air. On the average night I get about 5-7 hours, and on the weekends when I should be getting a lot of sleep I usually go to bed drunk at 5 in the morning. I was wondering... has anyone has heard of any psychological habits this amount of sleep causes?

Perhaps if I got 10 hours of sleep, would my personality be any different? I'm just throwing this out there... maybe others have noticed changes in their personality after regularly sleeping longer or shorter, or if anyone has spotted anything in magazines or newspapers that they happen to remember.

abaya

My sleep habits are completely erratic... my natural clock would love for me to go to sleep at 1-2am and then wake up at 10-11am, but unfortunately the real world's schedules don't accommodate my needs. So I've always gone to bed when I feel sleepy (no earlier than midnight, usually 1am) and then woken up too early (anywhere from 4:30am, when I did sports in college, to 8-9am for my work)... and have never been on a regular schedule. Sometimes I feel like this does affect my moods and personality, either making me way too hyper or just mentally sluggish... but I've never been in a controlled environment where I actually slept decently for an extended period of time, so I don't know.

I worry sometimes because my dad says this sleep deprivation will hit me really hard, healthwise, 20-30 years from now (I'm currently 25). Has anyone else heard this?

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eribrav

This is a really interesting topic. I've noticed a definite pattern in my life over, say, the past year or so.

I'll get to a time where there's a stress in work or life, and my sleep quality and quantity start to diminish. During those times, I won't get prolonged, truly relaxing sleep even if I have the time and proper setting to do so. After a week or so, I start noticing that I'm a little more edgy with people. I also tend to make quicker decisions because I can't do prolonged thinking.

Then for whatever reason, the anxiety causing event passes. You would think that that very night I would get a great night's sleep, but usually it doesn't happen that way. Typically starting the next night is when I get very deep restorative sleep. Some of that sleep seems to get stored in the "bank" so to speak, because I can go without very much if I have to, after I've had that restoration period.

I'm not sure what the long term effects would be if you went into chronic, prolonged deprivation.

shAzb0t

What I think I am noticing is I am having just less meaningful interactions with people, just because my mind becomes lazy and I don't make the effort to really have a good conversation. Instead I become passive and just make the occasional one-liner which I love to do all the time. I've been thinking about the sleep issue since I was in high-school...wondering if the popular, cheery, student council-type kids got more sleep than I did, since they always seemed to have energy to look their best every day, and being scarily enthusiastic when I talked with them.

genuinegirly

Sleeping is one thing that I have found to be crucial for my moods.
In high school I would go to bed sometime around 11pm, and be out the door at 5:45am again. Weekends I'd be in bed by 1-3am, and my dad would wake me at 7am if I wasn't already awake. I didn't think this sleep deprivation did anything negative at the time. I didn't really know any different. Most of my family seemed to keep a similar schedule.

Then I went away to school. I was able to sleep in on the weekend, and get closer to 7-9 hours of sleep a night. I found myself less depressed as I woke up in the morning, better able to think and function throughout the day, and less likely to fall asleep during a lecture. In high school I tended to doze off if I wasn't moving. Midterms/finals I went back to the old high school schedule, and found myself, as eribrav described, edgy and prone to quick, irrational decision-making. Roomates hated me during these crunch times, and I started to hate myself. I was happy/manic one minute, irritable/depressed the next - started to think I was bipolar. But then I started getting regular sleep again.
I'm a different person when I get enough sleep from when I don't.
I can't speak for everyone, but I know that I benefit from more sleep than I once thought I needed.

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BabySealClubber

I work pretty much the same way as eri. I work in theatre, so I keep very odd hours. During the summer there were 3 days out of every 10 that I would work from 9am until 4am. I had every other monday off, so i would generally use those to catch up on the sleep, and be fine. I hope that there aren't any long lasting effects...

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theusername

During the school year I sleep over 8 hrs every night. When I work during the summer I sleep about 5. Generally when getting 5 hours of sleep I am much less alert, positive, and thoughtful. I've decided to get a different summer job that doesn't require me to wake up at 5:30 am. My advice, find a way to get 8 hours a night it'll pay off for you. Won't change your "personality," but will make that same personality more effective.

At the same time, everyone works differently. Some people I know just function fine on 5 hours of sleep. I realize that it's not healthy for me. I say for anyone try out an 8 hr sleep schedule and stick to it, if you notice a change for the better then you are someone that needs that amount of sleep to function to the best of your abilities.

I'm curious if there are any long term effects though.

Oh well, That's just my 2 cents.

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archpaladin

Sleep needs do change from person to person. One individual may need eight hours of sleep to be completely rested, while other people only need six or less.

I know short-term sleep deprevation can cause personality and mood shifts....usually people are more short-tempered and frustratable. They lose concentration easier and can be a driving hazard if they're prone to dozing off. Physical coordination can also be lost. Since we're not really sure about the true need for sleep (as far as I'm aware anyway) we have no idea what the real long term effects are (20+ years down the road). The body itself only needs a few hours of rest and non-movement to recover from daily activity. Sleep itself only appears to be necessary for the mind and brain. The brain does need regular periods of REM sleep (because if you don't get it you go crazy and die), but the reasons for that are still unknown. The only important thing that I know of is that sleep debt doesn't really go away except if you get all the recovered sleep hours that your body has been needing and not getting. Thus, depriving yourself of sleep that your body actually needs can lower your general performance and quality of life over time, and you may not even know it.

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Gilda

Short term sleep deprivation can cause many of the same personality changes as being legally drunk--impaired judgement, physical reactions, heightened or dulled emotions.

The amount of sleep needed varies greatly from person to person. I can't sleep more than about 5 hours a night, and usually go to bed around 1 am, getting up at 5:30. I'll take a nap at about 5:30 in the afternoon, and by 6:300 I'm up and ready to go for the rest of the evening, but god help my SO and the world if I don't get my nap time.

This has been pretty consisten for the last ten years or so, since I started college. The only time it really changes is the last couple of days before my period, particularly if I'm cramping badly, when I might find myself climbing into bed at 10:00 or up till 3:00.

A consistent sleep pattern that allows you to operate fully alert the entire day is important. You can lose more productivity due to inefficency than to time. Try picking a consistent bed time and a consistent rising time, and stick to it for a week. If you're getting gradually more tired as the week goes on, add a half hour to the sleep duration and try the next week. Repeat until you have as much energy at the end of the week as at the beginning, and you have the amount of sleep you need.

Also, don't be afraid of napping in the afternoon, especially if you have one of those late nights planned. A half hour nap won't appreciably cut into your productive time, and can give you a big boost for the remainder of the evening.

Hampshire

well, i notice from the people around me that they change with their sleep habits. A friend of mine had some insomnia problems and he got very edgy and very short patience. SO, yes i guess, personality does change with the amount of sleepu get.

Demeter

Sleep deprivation makes me oblivious to the world & I get short tempered.

Caranthir

For myself, the more sleep I get, the happier I become. I've noticed that on the days I get 5 hours of sleep or less, I act erratic and mostly through anger. On some of those special days where I get more than 8 hours of sleep, it feels like heaven. All of the senses are clean, concentration is clear. But of course too much of anything is bad, and sleep is no different. Once I slept for 14 hours and had a very hard time getting up; I took nearly 1 hour 15 minutes to open my eyes and get out of bed so its best to keep your sleep schedule within regulated boundries, wherever they may be.

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macmanmike6100

Amount of sleep (relative to your personal requirement for sleep) is definitely a variable in your personality function. Interestingly, I don't believe that it's directly related. When I get a mere 1-2 hours for several nights in a row, I don't get more angry or testy, just more desperate for a good night's sleep.