When You're Not Just Sleepy: Sleep deprivation and bipolar disorder

Sleep deprivation has side effects that affect even the most healthy people. However someone with bipolar disorder cannot afford to risk it.

Severe sleep deprived people in general are subject to hallucinations; impaired judgement; memory loss; increased irritability, high blood pressure; stroke; damage to the immune system; heart disease and weight gain. That may be the reason those with bipolar disorder often suffer from affects common to the illness in bipolar disorder anyway. Bipolar disorder often affects judgement; short term memory loss; irritability; and weight gain.

But combined with a sleep disorder, the affect of deprived sleep may only be increased. During manic episodes it is common not to be able to sleep. Mania is often present during the highs and deepest depression. Keeping to a sleep schedule as much as possible, getting at least eight hours of sleep every night and increasing sleep after a manic event is restorative.

It is not possible to make up for lack of sleep in just one night. Anyone who has gone for long periods of little or no sleep has to have several nights of sleep to recover. If you can't go to sleep, tell your psychiatrist. Although they will probably not prescribing sleeping pills for obvious reasons, I have learned not even a sleeping pill can help. Often medication must be adjusted to control of mania. I have found increasing my moood stabilizer brings me out of both manic depressive and manic episodes.

Sometimes psychiatrists will stop or reduce mania. I am convinced that does not help depressive manic states. However, the mania of being high - elation, even euphoria can be precipitated by anti-depressants. It is up to you and your psychiatrist to determine what works best for you.