Dr. Abby Heart will now take the floor.
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I have come here today to discuss the harmful mental effects of sleep deprivation. I'm sure everyone knows that a lack of sleep isn't good for you. In some instances, sleep deprivation can lead to hallucinations. One of my patients discovered this effect of extreme sleep deprivation first hand. I will tell you about his experience today, but first let me give you the background on this case. We will call my patient "Matt." At the time of his experience Matt was 25 years old and sleeping an average of four hours a night. Matt's sleep pattern was inconsistent and clearly insufficient. Let me now read you the transcript from a session where Matt, in his own words, tells me about a hallucination he had.

I went into the office for a presentation. It was a major presentation that I had been working on, day and night, for three weeks. It was supposed to be a presentation by my entire department, but they had left most of the grunt work to me. It was going to be great. I had everything worked out, even what the others should say to make it appear that they were more involved. I held a little pre-meeting with my department to go over everything before our presentation and that is when everything started to go wrong.

 

 They didn't want to listen or do their part. I felt completely abandoned. Nan was the only one who stood by me. Unfortunately she is of little help. Nan is not very bright and a bad public speaker, but loyal to the core. I started to sweat and get nervous, but I tried to remain calm. I decided I could do the whole presentation myself. I didn't need my department. So I decide to carry on with the meeting as planned. I went to the restroom to put some cold water on my face a few minutes before it got started.

 

The dizziness got worse. My own image was a blur to me in the bathroom mirror. I stumbled into the meeting right on time. I had sweat pouring down my face, and when I looked around I felt like I was sinking - well not sinking, but shrinking. Everyone around me became huge, towering over me. Not just everyone but everything. The conference room table looked more like a shade structure over an outdoor pavilion. The breathing of everyon around me sounded more like the air conditioner rhythmically tripping on and off. Bob leaned over me and dandruff fell from his head. It was like being caught in a warm snowstorm. Knowing it was human skin falling all around me made me want to wretch, but I fought to keep my composure.

 I swallowed and blinked my eyes. I didn't know what was happening, or how to respond, so instinctively I dove into my speech. A few sentences in and they were laughing. The vibrations from their laughter almost knocked me off my feet. It felt like being caught in an earthquake. Some of my coworkers were in complete hysterics, others looked concerned. Nan asked me a question, but I couldn't understand what anyone was saying. Despite their voices being deafeningly loud, it had all become complete gibberish to my ears.

 

Nan tried to take care of me by bringing me water, wiping my brow, and asking me questions I could not understand. I could have swam in the cup of water. She practically smothered me when trying to mop away my sweat. Stacy, the office 'Queen B', was laughing hysterically. The inside of her mouth was a sea of spit and shinny metal cavities. Her face looked like a minefield of pores with a distinct smattering of dark hair above her upper lip. I had never seen her look more repulsive. She opened the door and called others in to watch my meltdown. I felt determined - determined to prove her wrong - so I kept talking. I kept trying to make my presentation even as I shook with fear at the giants that surrounded me. I felt someone swoop down on me. Then everything went black.

I woke up, the same size as everyone else, with Nan by my side, in the hospital. They couldn't find anything wrong. I was told my horrific experience was all a hallucination, and was diagnosed with sleep deprivation.

I interrupted Matt here and suggested we work on his delegation skills. I didn't need to hear any more of his nightmare. He already knew he was sleep deprived and was working on getting more rest. I needed to help him find ways to get his work done in shorter amounts of time, as well as overcoming the humiliation he had suffered at work.

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Female Psychiatrist. Websource: Secret.
Hallucination by Kate Petley. Websource: Kate Petley.

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (1726). Web source.