apparantly when you go an extended period of time without sleeping, the delusions and psychotic episodes you experience are very similar to those of schizophrenic patients. MRIs demonstrate that the same parts of the brain are active in both scenarios. it's interesting because many people still do not really understand what schizophrenia is. it isn't multiple personality disorder, but it also isn't just hallucinations; schizophrenic patients also experience episodes of delusional thinking, paranoia and disorganized speech/thought patterns. basically it refers to abnormalities in how you percieve reality. if you've ever gone over 24 hours without sleep you almost certainly can relate to this.
for some reason i've always found this really interesting. not to diminish schizophrenia in any way, it's a really terrible debilitating disease but next time you find yourself extremely sleep deprived and thinking really crazy shit, you'll kind of know what it's like to be schizophrenic! wacky.
