When suffering from a lack of sleep you may find yourself grumpier and hungrier than ever. Sleep is an important function that allows you to restore the energy you burn throughout the day and manage all of the new information that you receive each and every day. There are many side effects of losing sleep, whether you are simply getting an hour of too little sleep or have insomnia that inhibits sleeping severely.
Getting Enough
Getting enough sleep is different for every person. For one person a lack of sleep can mean sleeping only seven hours instead of the recommended eight, and for another four hours is plenty of sleep. Since your body and physiology dictates the amount of sleep that is right for you it is hard to determine how much is enough scientifically. It is recommended today that adults get eight hours of sleep while children review up to twelve hours of sleep. Smaller babies may sleep up to eighteen hours a day or more depending on their age.
Sleep is an important function, although science hasn’t really pinpointed why the body needs sleep. Lack of sleep has been linked to several diseases and conditions, however, including Diabetes 2, obesity and even mental disorders such as anxiety and depression. Getting enough sleep does more than give you energy; sleep helps you combat these unwanted diseases, helps you fight hunger and allows your mind to process each day. Getting enough sleep can be a challenge when you have a busy lifestyle but there are many advantages to carving out eight hours a day to rest even when you have a lot to do.
Common Side Effects
A lack of sleep is linked to over a dozen side effects. People who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to overeat, have headaches and suffer from a poor memory than those who do sleep well. Sleep allows the body to control the hormones that balance hunger pangs. When you don’t get enough sleep your body craves food which can lead to obesity over time. Obesity is also linked to poor sleep habits and sleep apnea, a condition which causes you to stop breathing resulting in waking several times a night or more. This vicious cycle can continue until you get control of your sleeping habits.
Brain function is also impaired with a lack of sleep. Less sleep is one of the contributing factors in thousands of car crashes every year. Studies have indicated that sleep deprivation can be just as damaging to cognitive thinking as drinking when on the road. Getting enough sleep can be challenging but the result is that you are healthier overall and have better reasoning skills, and better driving skills. Too little sleep in children is particularly damaging since growth can be slowed when the child isn’t getting enough sleep. A lack of sleep can also be linked to the following:
- Slowed healing
- Slower word recall and reduced capacity for language
- Increased risk of heart disease, increased blood pressure and diabetes
- Mental disorders such as bipolar disorders and depression
- Short blackouts that last for up to a minute where you fall asleep involuntarily
Each of these conditions can be very serious. Sleep is one of the most important ways that we protect our health, but we also have to have the right type of sleep to be as healthy as possible.
Types of Sleep
There are two main types of sleep, REM and NREM. Each type of sleep is important to have each night to properly recharge and regenerate your body. REM, or rapid eye movement, typically only lasts for one to two hours a night. This is the time when you have the most vivid dreams and how newborn babies spend most of their time sleeping. This sleep is typically only achieved when the body isn’t suffering from a severe lack of sleep, but it has also been shown that people who are sleep deprived will enter REM sleep much sooner and stay in the state longer than those who aren’t sleep deprived.
Non-REM sleep, or NREM sleep, takes place in four different stages. Stage one is indicated by light sleep while stage three is indicated by very deep sleep. When suffering from a lack of sleep, such as being awoken in one of the NREM stages before REM sleep is achieved can have a negative impact on the body. You may find that you feel more rested when each stage of sleep is allowed to naturally play out throughout the hours of sleep that you do get each night. If you wake feeling especially groggy then you may have been awakened in one of the NREM stages of sleep.
Scheduling Sleep
Since a lack of sleep can have such a huge impact on your health you may want to begin taking steps to get more sleep. Insomnia is a challenge that may require medication prescribed by a physician, while short term insomnia can often be treated with over the counter sleep aids. It is possible to become dependent on sleep aids to actually fall asleep so you will want to use these medications only as needed. There are also some natural ways that you can promote sleep in your home.
One of the main causes of a lack of sleep is stress. Stress can be caused by work, family or personal obligations. Take the time to list anything you are worried about before going to bed by writing it down on a piece of paper. Let your worries go and you may find that you are able to fall asleep faster. You can also promote sleep by clearing your bedroom of all unnecessary items. It is difficult to sleep in a cluttered room for some people, and you can also avoid lying down until you are ready to sleep. With these simple steps you may be able to get more sleep.
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