>>1922I've frequently heard that continuous lack of sleep for an extended period of time has a similar effect to LSD. Unconfirmed because a) that's not the kind of sleep deprivation I get and b) I've never tripped on acid so I wouldn't be able to tell you anyways.
I'm chronically deprived of sleep because the quality is either fuarrrked from regular (but not recurring) nightmares, or I'm plain terrified to fall asleep because of the nightmares I get. When I do sleep, I usually get about four hours during the night, and maybe an extra one or two during the day if the previous night was really bad. I generally don't have a big problem functioning during the day except maybe the occasional mood swings, but I have permanent dark circles under my eyes - I've never slept well enough in the long term to find out if they'll go away. Honestly I don't mind the lack of sleep or the physical effects terribly, this has been going on for a while. The nightmares are the worst, even though I can't remember them very well. The ones I do remember are pretty absurd and you might laugh if I told you, but they all have a very strong undercurrent of terror or grief or some similar sensation. Mostly those feelings don't last into the day but the fuarrrking awful nightmares will cause me to wake up shaking, crying, or both, and I'll spend at least the following day trying very hard not to be anxious.
The most I've been awake for is two full days but I don't remember much of the experience and I don't think I can replicate it because I end up practically passing out whenever I get too tired to function normally. It hasn't been enough of a problem to justify going on prescription medication or anything like that, and otc sleep aids just make me sleep more and still have nightmares. I used to have a prescription for oxycodone, which is a pretty heavy post-surgery sedative/painkiller but I ended up developing a dependency on it by the time I was due to renew my prescription, so I decided against continuing use. Like I say, I'm pretty high-functioning for how poor my sleep quality is, you wouldn't know it by looking at me except to see the circles under my eyes - friends that don't know seem to take it as a matter of course - and the mood swings aren't too apparent or frequent enough for strangers to notice.
Pic unrelated, I like rainy cityscapes.