Anyone tried "wake therapy" (Sleep Deprivation) or related techniques for Depression, SAD, ADHD? What are your experiences? I would be interested in connecting with anyone who has ever tried it, formally or not.
Here is a free excerpt from the book that describes the full protocol of Wake Therapy + Light Therapy + Sleep Phase Advance, which is what i'm attempting recently :http://content.karge....Chrono_004.pdf
My Story with Sleep Deprevation for ADHD-PI, Depression, SAD, & CFS..
I originally 'experimented' with wake therapy after coming across medical journal articles online, about 10 years ago. That was in high school- when my undiagnosed combination of ADHD-PI, depression (esp seasonal), and food allergies, combined with a drive for high achievement-- pushed me to procrastinate and end up staying up all night quite a few times, in order to finish basic homework and projects.
After noticing a *complete and profound positive change in mood, mental clarity / brain fog, focus, social abilities, and energy (but not manic or even hypomanic) * for 1-3 days after a full night of sleep deprivation, I began investigating this phenomenon online and started compiling articles. I actually felt "normal" after sleep deprivation, and was so hopeful that I would fine a way to feel like this more often than just 1 day here and there. However, at the time-- it was known that the often 100% relief from depression using wake therapy was short-lived. As soon as you got "recovery sleep", the depression would return to some extent. This was true for me. I tried to piece it all together and find out how to sustain the benefits, but gave it only a half hearted effort because there wasn't any consensus on how to do it or others who had done it. (Now there is a way!- see book link below).
Nevertheless, I used sleep deprivation as a tool periodically and halfheartedly over the last 10 years with some success. If there was ever a time I needed to be a my peak mental performance (i.e. a presentation or competition, or big project requiring clarity & focus), I would use wake therapy to get that 24+ hours of clarity. Whats amazing, is I believe this is among the top few *KEY REASONS* I made progress in my life and work, and was perceived as a highly successful person (in school and then as an entrepreneur). However, I got caught up exploring and implementing hundreds of other techniques, remedies and cocktails for my set of symptoms, eventually helping enough to make me satisfied and distract me from wake therapy/ light therapy. But none of them were ever as profound as wake therapy. Now, I use them ALL in combination for even more profound results. (i.e. cfs hormonal treatments, adhd meds, supplements, meditation, strict hypoallergenic diet, etc etc).
When thinking back and analyzing symptom journals of my ebbs and flows in depression, adhd, general productivity, clarity, etc-- periodic sleep deprivation was always in play during times where I felt my best!
Now, I am trying wake therapy (+ light therapy + sleep phase advance) more formally and aggressively. I purchased this book a couple of months ago and have been working on implementing it ever since. Its very straightforward and pretty simple, even though it’s a "physicians manual" . I strongly recommend checking it out. They also are coming out with a version for the layperson - in Nov 2012 I think.
http://content.karge....oduktNr=244116
Here is a free excerpt from the book that describes the full protocol of Wake Therapy + Light Therapy + Sleep Phase Advance, which is what i'm attempting recently :http://content.karge....Chrono_004.pdf
Except I go one step further as described later in the boom, using triple wake therapy (3 alternating nights of sleep deprevation & sleep phase advance + light therapy)
In that book and other related resources, they say there is a chronobiological component to many disease processes, and implementing chronobiological principles and techniques/treatments has been found helpful for many different conditions. Including Parkinsons, ADHD, PMS, etc.
I found out about the book from www.cet.org. That site has a lot of great tools- including a MEQ questionnaire/assessment to help you determine your natural melatonin onset time and how you should time your sleep for optimal results of light therapy. And a great Q & A with doctors for light therapy treatment.
There is also a clinic that opened recently, for anyone interested:
First U.S. Overnight Chronotherapy Clinic Opens Chicago, October, 2010. A boon for patients with bipolar disorder, the first U.S. clinic offering supervised "triple chronotherapy" (wake therapy, light therapy, sleep phase advance) has opened in Chicago under the directorship of John F. Gottlieb, M.D., in collaboration with CET's Chronotherapeutics Consultants. Referrals from around the country are invited for the several-day protocol. Visit the clinic's website. http://www.chicagochronotherapy.org/
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Here is my original thread and some additional replies on this over in adhd forums http://www.addforums...ad.php?t=117934
SO, anyone tried wake therapy (sleep deprivation) / sleep phase advance (alogn with bright light therapy) for any of their conditions? Your experiences? Ideas/Musings? Resources/Links?
Edited by ryan474, 12 October 2012 - 12:21 PM.