Most people would frown on someone showing up to work drunk every day, but we often act as if sleep deprivation is simply the way it has to be. Sleep deprivation can have similar effects to being outright intoxicated. Sleep deprivation increases your risk of heart disease, impairs memory retention, increases risk of diabetes and obesity (adequate sleep is required for proper glucose processing and insulin regulation), increases risk of depression and other mental illness, and the list goes on. Sleep deprivation also has a myriad of side effects you don’t see as easily as yawning or a snippy attitude. What happens when you don’t get enough sleep? Everyone is familiar with the common side effects, like being tired the next day, sore muscles, and general irritability. You need as much sleep today as your greatest of great grandfathers needed in 2010 BCE. We haven’t adapted to less sleep, and we’re likely not going to adapt any time soon. Our modern coffee-swilling, go-go-go, work-until-the-crack-of-dawn-and-collapse culture has only been around for the tiniest fraction of the history of the human species. Your body is a complex machine that evolved over millions of years to the state it’s in today. We’re all familiar with that silly image of the person who resorts to counting sheep when they just Read more Effects of sleep deprivationĪn important part of getting your sleep schedule back under control is understanding the negative impacts of not getting enough sleep. Why Insomnia Happens and What You Can Do to Get Better Sleep Sleep deprivation is brutal, and I hope whether you’ve been short-changing yourself an hour of sleep a day or eight of them, that you take something away from this guide that helps get things back on track. Between being a student, parent, educator, writer, and for one horrible year doing it all in addition to working 12-hour graveyard shifts, there isn’t a whole lot about sleep deprivation and putting your “sleep life” back together that I haven’t experienced. If you suspect you have a sleep disorder, talk to your doctor and see a sleep specialist.įinally, there isn’t a tip in this guide I haven’t personally used. Conditions that interrupt your sleep slowly shave years off your life and decrease the quality of life in the ones you have left. There are a multitude of medical reasons for why you might not be getting a good night’s sleep, including things like sleep apnea. Second, if you read through this guide, take the advice to heart, and still see no positive change in your sleeping patterns, you may very well need to see a doctor. ![]() (You certainly wouldn’t brag to your friends how awesome you are malnourishing yourself.) Going with little sleep is sometimes an unfortunate necessity, but it shouldn’t be adopted as a way of life or point of pride. If you insist that abusing your body with sleep deprivation is virtuous and a necessary part of being a working adult, then you’re not in the right frame of mind to take this advice to heart. It’s a very American/Protestant-Work-Ethic attitude to believe that being so busy and stretched thin that you must go without sleep is something to be proud of. First, sleep deprivation isn’t a badge of honor. Everybody’s sleep needs are a little bit different, but most adults should be getting between 7 and Read moreĪ few things need to be said before we go any further.
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