Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Lack of Sleep Peaks Emotions

I certainly have noticed it in my kids and others, lack of sleep stirs the emotions. It is indeed as Matthew Walker is quoted as saying:
"It's almost as though, without sleep, the brain had reverted back to more primitive patterns of activity, in that it was unable to put emotional experiences into context and produce controlled, appropriate responses,"

They become bears.

When you consider that this would be added to the effects of lack of sleep I talked about a few days ago, it becomes a potentially deadly combination. Add anger and poor impulse control to the drunk-like effects and it is easy to imagine that lack of sleep can have a pervasive effect, probably a bigger effect than is usually really thought about.

Take driving while drowsy and throw in a little rage and consider the consequences. It isn’t much of a stretch to conjecture that impaired impulse control mixed with the poor judgment from drowsiness could contribute to violent action and escalation, as well.

Get good nights sleep and/or take a nap. It is good for you and good for the rest of us and your interactions with us.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Makes me wonder about the statistics of nighttime violence and how much of that might be due to sleep deprivation.

Leah

Anonymous said...

You always hear how medical interns work long shifts with little or no sleep.Is this still being done? Isnt it rather ironic that the medical community would still allow this to happen? How can you be an effective doctor if you are sleep deprived?

Dr. Richard Keller said...

While it is a bit more controlled, it does still happen and is definitely a real concern.