Can sleep deprivation damage your mental health?

Can sleep deprivation damage your mental health?I know not sleeping can damage your health overall (you can die of not sleeping, can't you?), but can it permanently damage your mind? For example, if you stayed awake for as long as you could (say a few days), then slept for 8 hours, then stayed awake as long as you could again... and did that over and over again, would the damage build up over time until you 'snapped' and developed mental illness?

Or would you just collapse from exhaustion and sleep until you were healthy again?

Answer by Anonymous
Yes, it can damage your mental health. For example, the other night, I couldn't fall asleep from drinking too much coffee. The next day I felt depressed from not sleeping the night before.

Answer by L.S. Hill
It can. When you stay up for more then three days straight, you start to see things. Sometimes these things can frighten you, and such.

Odds are, you'd collaps from exhaustion and then sleep for a very long time.

Answer by TAT
You would not get permanent brain damage but sleep deprivation can lead to a psychotic break. That happens somewhere around 96 hours without sleep.

Answer by Limo
I can't say for sure what would happen if you just stayed up and
didn't sleep. It might vary with each person. However, most
teenagers need 9 1/2 hours of sleep and adults need 6 to 8 hours
of sleep per night. The link I gave tells that to not get enough sleep
can cause serious consequences and it explains how the body
gets tired.

Check it out. You have a healthy body so stop fooling around with
it or you may end up really hurting yourself.

Limo

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