Guess what? You know those nights you have, up with the baby several times, or up with a throwing-up kid, or a peeing-the-bed kid? Those nights? Like, for some, every night? They are rewiring your brain! That's right, "people in this state seem to experience a pendulum of emotions, going from upset and annoyed to giddy in moments." Um, yeah. That so would describe my life. Yours, too?
In addition, there is this to consider: "There seems to be a causal relationship between impaired sleep and some of the psychiatric symptomatology and disorders that we're seeing." Well, that explains a lot, don't you think? So we've got, basically, one foot in the crazy house. At all times.
I would explain all this in more scientific terms (amygdala! norepinephrine! medial prefrontal cortex!) but I didn't sleep well last night, sorry, and I'm feeling kind of sad...hey, dammit, I said I wasn't going to explain more...lalalalala, let's all sing now! Besides, you know if you're not sleeping. And, well, hello, you know it makes you kind of crazy. That person who left the baby (in his carrier) next to the car, then got in the car, buckled the seat belt, and then turned around to say something to the baby except there was no baby (the baby being still outside the car), that was you, wasn't it? Or, er, no, that was me. Whatever.
But, lalala, do we really need to know that some people were deprived of sleep and then shown pictures of tarantulas! and burn victims! and their brains were measured for activity, therefore suggesting that not sleeping creates all manner of extra activity in areas usually associated with psychosis? I mean, come on really.
We all know that having kids makes us a little crazy.
Which is what makes us want to have the next one.
