Less Causes Distress: Sleep Deprivation

Sleep deprivation is often thought of as a commodity that goes with this day and age. There is always more TV to watch, more games to play, more work to do and so much more to accomplish. But the thing is, we can hardly accomplish anything in the daytime if we cannot accomplish what we should do in the nighttime- sleep. We often think that one night of sleep deprivation is harmless. The fact is actually contrary because an adult needs 8 regular hours of sleep every night. One night of sleep deprivation can actually turn into a habit as adults get only 6 or 7 hours of sleep every night.

Once you invest too much on sleep deprivation, your lost hours of sleep will all add up and you would become indebted to your body’s regular need for sleep. If you become so submerged in your sleep debt, it may come to a point where sleep will no longer be helpful for your sleep deprivation. Consequently, it could lead to sleep disorders which in turn can cause other diseases. This vicious cycle of ill health can start with sleep deprivation. Stress, fatigue, poor concentration and mood disturbances can cause sleep deprivation. It is interesting to note that the manifestations of a person deprived of sleep mimic those of an intoxicated individual such as slurred speech, blurred vision and general confusion.

A person who has gone between 17 to 19 hours without sleep is more impaired than a person with a blood alcohol content of .05, a level of intoxication that is illegal in most countries. Chronic sleep deprivation can even cause nausea, hallucinations and death in extreme cases. Furthermore, inadequate amounts of sleep can alter the body’s metabolism, imposing higher risks for diabetes and obesity. It is quite perverse to associate sleep with laziness, but a majority of individuals forgo sleep for the sake of being productive when the fact is it becomes counterproductive as their behavior leads to sleep deprivation which consequently leads to poor health and diminished productivity.

Studies have also shown that TV, aside from stress or work, is a major reason why people are deprived of sleep. It is not surprising for a person to stay up just a few minutes more to catch up with a great program until the minutes would turn into hours. The “few more minutes” of staying up late every night can add up to your sleep debt and would eventually lead to sleep deprivation. It is unnecessary to jeopardize your health because a basic solution for the prevention of a possibly threatening health condition is simply switching the remote off.

The answer is actually very basic- have enough regular sleep of 8 hours every night. A good quality of sleep for that whole length of time to legitimately scratch you off the list of the millions of people who suffer from sleep deprivation. Attitude and behavior modifications are also necessary and you need to cultivate a mindset wherein you condition yourself to relax and really set aside 8 regular hours at night for sleeping. You may think you are sedentary when you are asleep, but sleeping is actually one of the most indispensable and intricate jobs that your body can do.

Sleep deprivation need not be a fact of life in this day and age. By modifying your lifestyle and your attitude, you can actually stop depriving yourself of sleep and start living a healthy cycle wherein you get enough sleep and you get to function efficiently with your daily activities which leads to less stress and a good quality of life and well-being. Under these circumstances, you can sleep soundly and officially consider yourself excluded from the multitude of the sleep deprived.