Sleep deprivation is a condition that occurs if you don’t get enough sleep. Sleeping is a basic human need, like eating, drinking, and breathing. Like these other needs, sleeping is a vital part of the foundation for good health and well-being throughout your lifetime. Sleep deficiency can lead to physical and mental health problems, injuries, loss of productivity, and even a greater risk of death. It occurs if you have one or more of the following:
– You sleep at the wrong time of day (that is, you’re out of sync with your body’s natural clock).
– You don’t sleep well or you don’t get all of the different types of sleep that your body needs.
– You have a sleep disorder that prevents you from getting enough sleep or causes poor quality sleep.
The most common and visible symptoms are periorbital puffiness (also known as “bags under eyes”), frequent yawns and a probable feeling of stunning. However, these are just few of the great amount of problems that sleep loss can produce.
First of all, it can influence different functions of our brain, in particular:
- our ability to judge; in fact, we could take bad decisions as we would not have the faculties to analyse wisely the situation;
- our cognitive processes, which include alertness, concentration, reasoning and problem solving; as a consequence, we could worsen our work and school performances;
- our memory, as information we learned and moments we experienced during the day are transferred to our neocortex (where long-term memories are kept) during the deepest part of the sleep; so, this may cause lapses in routine actions;
- our mood, in particular many sleep-deprived subjects aren’t able to show or detect positive feelings, they don’t tolerate disappointments and they can show sudden mood changes or signs of depression;
- our perception of the world, which brings to hallucinations, delirium, development of false memories, bizarre behaviours, due to the inability of our brain of interpreting information clearly.
On the other hand, our mind is not the only “prey” of sleep deprivation. Actually, if we don’t grant our body the right rest period it may be subjected to many effects, such as:
- cardiovascular system problems, as sleep plays an essential role in our bodies ability to cure and repair vessels and heart; this can lead to a higher risk of heart disease, heart attack, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure and stroke;
- weight gain and obesity, due to a decrease of a hormone called leptin, which makes us feel satiated after having eaten. Moreover levels of appetite stimulant (a hormone called ghrelin) rise, making us feel always hungry: in this way we release a higher amount of insulin, increasing fat storage and the risk of type 2 diabetes development;
- immune system problems, because we produce infection-fighting antibodies while we sleep; without this important action, our body doesn’t have the chance to strengthen its defences. As a consequence, it’s necessary a longer time to recover from an illness and we would be more vulnerable to common diseases, like cold and flu;
- growth problems, in children and adolescents, as growth hormones are released during the sleep.
Therefore, we can say that lack of sleep is very dangerous for our body and mind, but it could turn out to be unsafe also for people around us.
One of the worst things that a sleep-deprived person could do is driving; in fact, 250,000 accidents every year are related to it.
Experts estimate that sleep loss can slow reaction time as much as driving drunk and in particular, these car accidents are usually due to microsleeps, which last for few seconds and happen unconsciously more often when a person is really tired and tries to stay awake.
Furthermore, microsleeps can be dangerous also at work, not only on the road.
They were involved in some of the biggest disasters in past decades, such as the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island in 1979 and the nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl in 1986.
The amount of sleep a person needs depends on many factors, including age, job and lifestyle. However in general:
Infants require about 12-15 hours a day
Toddlers require about 11-14 hours a day.
Pre-school children require 10-13 hours a day.
School-age children require 9-11 hours a day.
Teenagers need about 8.5-9.5 hours on average.
Most adults need 7 to 9 hours a night for the best amount of sleep, although some people may need as few as 6 hours or as many as 10 hours of sleep each day.
Women in the first 3 months of pregnancy often need several more hours of sleep than usual.
However, it isn’t important only the quantity of our sleep but also the quality.
Here are some sleep tips to help you relax, fall asleep, stay asleep, and get better sleep so that you wake up refreshed and alert.
- Avoid watching TV, eating, and discussing emotional issues in bed. The bed should be used for sleep and sex only. If not, we can associate the bed with other activities and it often becomes difficult to fall asleep.
- Minimize noise, light, and temperature extremes during sleep. Even the slightest night-time noises or luminescent lights can disrupt the quality of your sleep. Try to keep your bedroom at a comfortable temperature.
- Try not to drink fluids after 8 p.m. This may reduce awakenings due to urination.
- Avoid naps, but if you do nap, make it no more than about 25 minutes about eight hours after you awake. Nevertheless, if you have problems falling asleep, then no naps for you.
- A light snack may be sleep-inducing, but a heavy meal too close to bedtime interferes with sleep. Stay away from protein and stick to carbohydrates or products that contain milk, which has been shown in research to help people go to sleep.
- Do not exercise vigorously just before bed, if you are the type of person who is aroused by exercise. If this is the case, it may be best to exercise in the morning or afternoon.
Good sleep hygiene can have a tremendous impact upon getting better sleep. You should wake-up feeling refreshed and alert, and you should generally not feel sleepy during the day. If these advices don’t improve your sleep, then you must see your doctor or a sleep specialist.
Sources:
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/10-results-sleep-loss
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_deprivation
http://www.livescience.com/52592-spooky-effects-sleep-deprivation.html
http://www.healthline.com/health/sleep-deprivation/effects-on-body
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