In general, all creatives are incredibly inspiring individuals, but none of us are superheroes—no matter the inventive ways we see the world. Need proof? One Google search will lead you down a rabbit hole of papers, personal essays, and contrarian tweets detailing hospital trips and mental breakdowns following a lack of sleep and self-care.
Even still, sleep deprivation is worn as a badge of honor because if you’re exhausted to your core, you must be on the verge of greatness, right? Sort of—the question requires more nuance. A lack of sleep might have negative physical and emotional consequences, and yet something is still keeping artists hooked on sleep depravity.
In an effort to better understand this behavior, DJBooth spoke with Dr. Dmitry Ostrovsky, a psychiatry resident at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s in New York, and Dr. Rubin Naiman, the director of NewMoon Sleep, LLC, a Tucson, Arizona-based organization that specializes in sleeping, about the impact sleep deprivation can have on creativity, the appeal of hustle culture, and the search for balance.
Starting with the basics, sleep deprivation is exactly what it sounds like: not getting enough sleep. As Dr. Ostrovsky explains, there are over 70 causes of sleep deprivation, from sleep apnea to a depressive disorder, but the condition can often be self-induced. If an artist is in the studio working for 22-30 hours straight without getting tired, per Ostrovsky, that artist is operating on a hypomanic level.
“Hypomania is a distinct period where people have elevated, expansive mood, lasting a few days,” he details. “You get more creative when you’re hypomanic. That’s an important distinction. Somebody who is hypomanic would be more creative than just people who are not sleeping.
“[Hypomania] is associated with inflated self-esteem. So when someone is hypomanic, they think more highly of themselves than usual. There’s a decreased need for sleep, distractibility, and great physical and mental activity, and an over-involvement in pleasurable activities.”