Expert: Ivan Goldberg, M.D. - 12/4/2008

Question
Hello. I have a friend whom i strongly beileve is Bipolar or has Bipolar dis-order. I have done some research and have found that all the symptoms of the mental diesease match what my friend has. My only question is this, one of the symptoms is sleepless nights. is it possible for a person with a near severe case of this Bipolar diesease to get only an average of 1 hour of sleep per night every night and yet still be motivated and energitic? i ask this cause i know this personally...and people don't belive it is possible...that is why i am asking you, an expert in the field. For you would know more about this then me. My friend has this sleepless nights for many many months and is gone un-treated (no meds). Is it possible for my friend to get just 1 hour of sleep per night every night without any naps for weeks and weeks on end and still function as if my friend has gotten 8 hours a sleep per night?
Thanks.

Answer
John . . .

Over the 45+ years that I have been doing psychiatry I have treated many individuals in hypomanic and manic states. While many of them are able to go for weeks on little sleep I have never seen a patient who was able to function for longer than 2 or 3 days on just one hour of sleep in a 24-hour day. All of the patients who claimed to be sleeping only 1-hour a day while hospitalized were observed to take short and not so short naps during the day and/or night.

Best regards . . .

Ivan
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