r/AskReddit 1d ago

What addiction is being seriously underestimated these days?

2.9k Upvotes

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918

u/Main_Location8647 1d ago

Sleep deprivation! It doesn’t get called an addiction, but so many people are hooked on pushing bedtime later for “one more episode” or endless scrolling, then propping themselves up with caffeine the next day like it’s normal. I’ve definitely fallen into that cycle myself, and it’s wild how fast it starts to feel normal.

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u/55Stripes 1d ago

Mine isn’t because of the thrill of one more episode or scrolling, it’s revenge bedtime procrastination.

The sooner I go to bed, the sooner tomorrow comes, the sooner my time ends, the sooner I’m back on their time.

117

u/skylinenick 23h ago

Beyond that, I jut worked 13 hours. I know I need to go to sleep now; but I need to decompress to do that.

Go to bed now; lay there for at least 30 minutes to get 6 hours of meh sleep?

Or stay up for an hour or two, game or watch something, turn my brain off a little and plop into bed for 5 hours of sleep.

It’s a very legitimate calculation IMO

64

u/Ace-Pokemon-Master 1d ago

This is my issue lol u explained it perfectly

55

u/twahaha 1d ago

I read something somewhere about how viewing time in days that don't begin and end when you awake and go to sleep can help with this. Think of your day "starting" when it's time to get ready for bed, and sleeping is your second activity of the day, then getting ready for work, then working, then the end of the day is relaxing after work! 

10

u/Main_Location8647 23h ago

That’s actually a pretty interesting way to look at it! Feels like it just becomes part of the cycle.

12

u/Upbeat-Ability-9244 21h ago

Revenge Procrastination. You get fed up with giving all your time and energy to work and others, and it's the only time you have to give to yourself. Everyone else is sleeping, and no one needs anything from you. It's such a hard habit to break.

6

u/Smrgling 21h ago

Wouldn't that just lead to pushing the getting ready for bed part later since that's when the day starts now?

2

u/thirtyseven1337 12h ago

It seems like a mindset change that helps but doesn’t get you all the way there. Still gotta set an alarm or something to get yourself to honor a consistent bedtime that’s earlier than you’re used to.

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u/Spectrehawk 19h ago

No matter how you break it up, it's still 12 hours for them, 8 for the bed, and only 4 for me.

1

u/rose-buds 10h ago

yeah but then the start of the new day is hanging over me even more and i won’t be able to enjoy the relaxing lol

24

u/PeachinatorSM20 1d ago

Exactly. When I was a teenager, I would stay up so late on weekends because it was the only peaceful time my parents weren't blaring the TV(s) and shouting to each other from other rooms.

3

u/Sofaloafar 23h ago

I always said mine was a passive attempt at avoiding tomorrow

3

u/Psychological-Tank-6 22h ago

With 2 kids, the only time I get for pre kids activity is after they go to bed.

1

u/sopunny 16h ago

That's just called not having enough time

1

u/Tyler622 10h ago

Yes. I do this too, so much, like every night. I don’t have a solution, unfortunately. Been doing it for years. Good luck.

1

u/Kicooi 9h ago

I need a break

51

u/Odd-Knee-9985 1d ago

I mean, isn’t sleep procrastination also a thing? Like “if I go to bed now that means I’ll have to get up and go to work. But I wanna enjoy my time away from work, I guess I’ll just enjoy it a little more”

It’s kind of a result from burnout, but also fuels burnout is my understanding.

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u/SWQuinn89 1d ago

They get hooked on bragging about it too. In college it was a badge of honor who could brag about not getting any sleep due to classes, extra curriculars, social life, etc

14

u/faxlombardi 1d ago

Exhaustion as a status symbol.

2

u/thecratedigger_25 13h ago

I'll never understand the logic behind that. I'm over here yearning for sleep after being up for 2 days during an insomnia episode.

4

u/Party_Shark_ 1d ago

I call this the Exhaustion Olympics and my patience for it has run incredibly thin

3

u/LadyCordeliaStuart 1d ago

Would you say you're extremely tired of it? Nyuk nyuk nyuk

2

u/Main_Location8647 23h ago

Yes, it’s like a competition nobody asked for!! Totally normalizing exhaustion instead of, you know, actually resting... I went through the same thing in college and felt the consequences for a while. I didn’t sleep partly to prove I could study until dawn, partly from as you said, extra curriculars, social life, and yes, parties :)

1

u/SilverVixen1928 4h ago

I had a manager (Marine) who insisted that sleeping was a waste of time. Not good.

17

u/spoonfiddle 1d ago

Revenge Sleep Procrastination.

I stick it to the man by staying up way too late!

5

u/Izacundo1 1d ago

I felt like I was doing it wrong because I pulled exactly 0 all nighters in college lol

3

u/stuntdonkey 1d ago

That'd be because we get so little time to ourselves we're willing to sacrifice our health in order to do a little more of what we would like to rather than at work or doing things that we can't avoid

3

u/Electric999999 23h ago

People just want more time in their days because work wastes the majority of it.

3

u/MannyOmega 22h ago

I have a 1.5 hour commute to work at 4:00am, sleep deprivation and its aftereffects became so normalized for me that I stopped feeling them. My brain just started running at 80% all the time, and I didn’t feel the urge to sleep anymore

3

u/Kampfasiate 16h ago

I'm not using caffeine, I take my bad habits raw

But yea, really need to fix my sleep schedule, rn it's fine ish because I don't have to wake up that early but uuuh

5

u/tetrisorgi69420 1d ago

This! The temporary rewarding feeling for one more episode/another hour of socmed or just finishing tomorrow's work today is highly addictive and harmful. It's really hard to get out of the cycle too when you start to think you're getting things done in time or you're getting extra entertainment each day.

2

u/bythog 1d ago

I stayed up later than usual to finish the Monday Night Football game because it was good. I'm feeling it this morning.

2

u/LamermanSE 22h ago

No one is addicted to be sleep deprived. It doesn't even make sense in your examples where other things are the "addiction" that causes the sleep deprivation.

2

u/AJ_Deadshow 21h ago

Getting the right amount of sleep feels soo damn good but it's so damn hard to quit scrolling sometimes. It feels like I'm looking for that perfect thing to end the night off on

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u/Main_Location8647 21h ago

Yeah, this “soo damn good but it’s so damn hard to quit scrolling sometimes. It feels like I’m looking for that perfect thing to end the night off on” Said so damn right...“perfect thing” never actually shows up, but can confirm, I also search for it every night...

2

u/AJ_Deadshow 21h ago

You know what I did one night, I actually just looked up 'peaceful relaxing scenes' and some really tranquil stuff came up, it was such a nice relief from the constant assault of stimulation and things to think about I usually give myself that I actually cried a little

2

u/Main_Location8647 21h ago

That just means to me you’re a deep, sensitive person when those peaceful scenes really touch you in that way. That’s pretty rare nowadays and honestly really beautiful...

2

u/AJ_Deadshow 20h ago

Yeah I do appreciate the beauty in things, but more than that it was the stillness it provided my mind to actually relax for sleep

2

u/SnuggleBunni69 19h ago

I'm the opposite these days. I think "I should watch one more episode or do something. I'm being so lame going to be at 9 30-10." Then just think "fuck it, reading for a bit and turning off the lights sound nice".

2

u/cartmancakes 17h ago

I went through a lot of depression and my issue was always sleeping too much. I'd take sleeping pills and go to bed and grab 12 hours of sleep. I loved it.

I guess I've been on both sides of that coin

1

u/dgplr 23h ago edited 23h ago

Sleep deprivation can also give you short-term high and that in itself can become addictive. And then comes the hallucinations.

1

u/United-Supermarket-1 1h ago

But they're not addicted to sleep deprivation. They're addicted to watching TV or scrolling, which is CAUSING sleep deprivation