Despite the article's title, its subtitle qualifies it as a possible treatment for severe depression.
Ideally under supervision, at that. Near the very end:
>In the case of wake therapy, Benedetti cautions that it isn’t something people should try to administer to themselves at home. Particularly for anyone who has bipolar disorder, there’s a risk of it triggering a switch into mania – although in his experience, the risk is smaller than that posed by taking antidepressants. Keeping yourself awake overnight is also difficult, and some patients temporarily slip back into depression or enter a mixed mood state, which can be dangerous. “I want to be there to speak about it to them when it happens,” Benedetti says. Mixed states often precede suicide attempts.
Sleep deprivation is nothing to fuck around with. If you're emotionally unstable, it'll usually make that worse.
Same for me. If I spend the whole next day exhausted after sleep deprivation, my emotional state feels really fragile, my decision making is impaired, and everything just feels harder.
It can also worsen any other symptoms -- sometimes the depression itself too. For example, people who experience anxious depression may end in a much worse situation as a result of sleep deprivation.
This study always needs to be qualified with "your mileage may vary".
Ideally under supervision, at that. Near the very end:
>In the case of wake therapy, Benedetti cautions that it isn’t something people should try to administer to themselves at home. Particularly for anyone who has bipolar disorder, there’s a risk of it triggering a switch into mania – although in his experience, the risk is smaller than that posed by taking antidepressants. Keeping yourself awake overnight is also difficult, and some patients temporarily slip back into depression or enter a mixed mood state, which can be dangerous. “I want to be there to speak about it to them when it happens,” Benedetti says. Mixed states often precede suicide attempts.
Sleep deprivation is nothing to fuck around with. If you're emotionally unstable, it'll usually make that worse.