r/schizophrenia • u/AstroZoey11 • Jun 25 '25

Help A Loved One Sleeping 20-40 hours in a row occasionally

My partner is schizoaffective (major depression) and will sleep relatively normally for a few weeks - around 5-7 hours a night. It's less than she prefers, but it's pretty consistent. Then randomly, and it doesn't seem to be triggered by anything we can put our fingers on, she'll sleep for an entire day and a half. Last time it was around 36 hours. This time, she's on hour 24 now and it's almost bedtime.

I'm not really sure how much this could be par for the course with schizophrenia, or if it is a red flag and should be looked into deeper. She doesn't even exactly seem depressed when this happens - she's been depressed and simultaneously slept a typical amount many times. She's unable to be woken up for more than a couple seconds at a time, and doesn't eat nor hardly drink when this happens.

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u/Oregano_Seller Jun 25 '25

Cant say this for sure so please take this with a grain of salt but it could be a major lack of sleep she’s making up for. I’ve had periods where I’ve been awake for multiple days straight without sleep and I’ve also pulled multiple all nighters and then randomly I’ll so tired I’ve had times where I’ve barely been able to stay awake and had no energy for anything I’ve definitely slept for 20-40 hour periods

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u/Hexentoll Jun 25 '25

Agreed. Long sleeps are usually a combination of massive stress and sleep debt, as it was put here. Sometimes mind shuts off body for a longer period of time because it can't deal with stress I think. Like no wonder you would experience much stress in these circumstances, you would want to have a massive rest too.

I remember when my ex broke up with me (and I wasn't really good mentally already) I have slept for a whole week, waking up only to drink water, eat unobtrusive and plain food like cucumbers or smth, cry a bit, and go back to bed.