More than 30% of our life is spent in a dream. However, few people understand why quality sleep is important and what happens to the body when sleep deprivation. Conditions such as irritability, fatigue, constant hunger, and absent-mindedness are familiar to most of us. And these are signs of sleep deprivation. In this article, we'll talk about what sleep deprivation is, what are its causes and consequences and whether it is possible to compensate for the lack of sleep.
Chronic sleep deprivation occurs when your body hasn't been getting enough sleep over a long period of time. Why sleep deprivation deserves close attention? Sleep affects most of the systems in our body: the respiratory, endocrine, cardiovascular, digestive, and nervous systems. During a night's rest, hormones are released that help control appetite, metabolism, and glucose processing. Chronic sleep deprivation upsets the balance of hormones and is accompanied by violations of vital functions.
The symptoms of sleep deprivation usually do not appear immediately, but build up gradually. Not getting enough sleep leads not only to serious health problems but also to a decrease in life expectancy. Overweight, depression, deteriorating skin condition, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and high blood pressure, increased appetite - this is not a complete list of what causes lack of sleep.
The number of hours of sleep the body needs varies throughout life and depends more on age and individual characteristics. Newborns require the longest sleep - 14 to 18 hours a day. Older children who have not yet started school need 12-14 hours, and schoolchildren need 10-12 hours a day. In adolescence, the rates decrease to 9-10 hours a day, but this is the period that is usually the most problematic. Teenagers are critically sleep deprived, trying to "get" all the necessary hours on weekends, and this brings down the regime. In adulthood, the body requires fewer hours to recover: as a rule, 7-8 hours is enough to rest. But everyone has different needs, so you may have your own sleep rate. To determine your norm, mentally return to that period in life when you felt cheerful in the daytime, and try to remember how much you slept then.
Each person has their own reason. For a student preparing for a session, sleep deprivation is associated with intense learning activities. For young parents, the reason lies in the need for constant care of the newborn. There is a category of people who have difficulty sleeping due to certain diseases. One way or another, all these reasons lead to one outcome - chronic sleep deprivation.
Numerous studies have shown that in the short term, the lack of adequate night rest impairs memory and attention, negatively affects the decision-making process and the ability to critically assess the situation. But it is not only mental abilities that are in decline with lack of sleep: sleep deprivation is harmful to internal organs as well.
An increased level of stress, hypertension, and various inflammations are the consequences of chronic lack of sleep and become triggers for the development of even more serious diseases: diabetes, heart, and vascular diseases, obesity, and amnesia. Lack of sleep also increases the chances of getting into an accident. According to American studies, lack of sleep is just as dangerous to the human brain as drinking alcohol.
To get rid of sleep deprivation forever and establish a regimen, you need to determine the cause of the lack of sleep and then choose an approach to eliminate it. It takes time. But you can take the first small steps towards a healthy and full sleep today. Follow the tips below.
Getting rid of sleep deprivation is possible, but it requires discipline and a clear desire to change your own life for the better. It's important to understand that the ultimate goal is to create a sleep schedule that you follow.
The first step towards a good night's rest is analyzing your bedtime and sleep routines. Go back to the list of tips presented above and mentally answer “Yes, I do” or “No, I do not” to each of the points. Those questions to which you answered negatively are the problems leading to lack of sleep and deserve primary attention.
The second step is realizing responsibility for yourself. Imagine your goal is to get 8 hours of sleep a night, and over the last week, you have a cumulative 10 hours of sleep shortfall. To get rid of the accumulated "debt", add 2-3 extra hours of sleep on weekends and 1-2 hours on weekdays the next week, until you pay off the "debt" in full.
For some, daytime sleep is a way to compensate for lack of sleep. However, this option is not ideal. Daytime sleep disrupts the body's biological clock, and it can make it difficult to fall asleep in the evening at the right time. It is useful to take a nap if you do not use this option on an ongoing basis, but only in critical situations. If chronic sleep deprivation has lasted for years, then the best option would be to take a vacation to compensate for the accumulated losses. Do not set the alarm and sleep until you wake up on your own. At first, the duration of sleep may be 12 hours or more, but gradually the body will begin to recover and return to the standard rhythm.
A person lives according to daily rhythms, which are responsible for the secretion of hormones, changes in body temperature. Such rhythms are regulated by sunlight. It often happens that when a person flies from one-time zone to another, the circadian rhythms do not immediately adapt to new realities, so at first, a person may feel unwell: tiredness and lethargy during the day and a surge of energy at night. In this case, you can prepare your body for a quick change of day and night:
And if you still feel the influence of jet lag, then try to immediately enter the mode of a new city: if you arrived during the day, do not go to bed until the evening, and if you arrived at night, then go to bed, even if you don’t want to at all, because even when you just lie in silence and darkness, the body is resting.
Sleep is a basic need of the body that cannot be replaced or replenished with something else. If, following these tips, you still do not sleep well, consult your doctor. This could be a symptom of a sleep disorder.
