[narsil]

I took Matt Walker's class on sleep at UC Berkeley (Psych 133) and it was fascinating. Short-term effects of a lack of sleep are easily observable, and I'm sure we can all relate from personal experience. However, long-term effects of sleep deprivation are harder to determine. One of the few known correlations appears to be that people who are susceptible to psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia are more likely to experience them as they age, if they suffer from chronic sleep deprivation.

"Sleep problems may increase risk for developing particular mental illnesses, as well as result from such disorders." - http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/Sleep-and-m... (2009)

[ctolsen]

This is an interesting one. I have sleep apnea, the result of which is basically chronic sleep deprivation even though you spend lots of time in bed. I struggled with all sorts of depressive symptoms (depression, anxiety, panic attacks) for years before getting a diagnosis, and 90% of the symptoms vanished overnight after treatment.