catsidhe: (Default)
catsidhe ([personal profile] catsidhe) wrote2010-09-01 10:07 am
Entry tags:

Mark: F. See me.

Sleep deprivation triples risk of mental illness


NO! WRONG! THAT'S NOT WHAT THE STUDY SAYS!

What the study says is that there is a strong correlation between Sleep Deprivation and mental illness.

But I don't know that the study can tell whether there is a causative relationship there, and if so, whether sleep dep causes mental illness, the other way around, or that they're both caused by some other influence.

And you certainly can't tell from the story.


That doesn't stop man+dog, starting with the Lead Author (ffs), from blaming Fancy Modern Gadgets for Rooning Yoof of Today. (Except for one comment on that story from Samtheman who makes the same basic point as I'm making.)



EDIT
I should also point out that the results of the study aren't even particularly new. Certainly it is my experience that when mental illness is involved, sleeplessness is often concomitant, and may be one of the warning signs of an incipient episode. But what we don't know is whether the illness causes sleepnessness, sleeplessness triggers the illness, or something else is causing both.

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