If you’ve ever spent a night restless and turning, you already know how you’ll feel the next day — exhausted, bad-tempered, and disoriented. But missing out on the 7 to 9 hours of regular sleep does more than make you feel dazed and irritable.
The term sleep deprivation refers to getting less than the required amount of sleep, which, for adults, ranges from seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Children and teens need even further daily sleep than adults.
Sleep deprivation and sleep inadequacy may be characterised in different ways depending on a person’s conditions.
• Acute sleep deprivation, refers to a short period, generally a few days or less, when a person has a major reduction in their sleep time.
• Chronic sleep deprivation, also recognised as insufficient sleep syndrome, is defined as shortened sleep that continues for three months or longer.
• Chronic sleep deficiency or insufficient sleep can be labelled as ongoing sleep deprivation as well as poor sleep that occurs due to sleep fragmentation or other interruptions.
Causes:
Numerous aspects can be the source or lead to sleep deprivation comprising poor sleep hygiene, lifestyle decisions, work responsibilities, sleep syndromes, and other medical disorders.
Sleep deprivation is every so often driven by voluntary choices that decrease available sleep time. For example, a person who elects to stay up late to binge-watch a TV series may suffer from acute sleep deprivation. A shifting sleep schedule may expedite these decisions and make them feel less deliberate in the moment.
Work requirements are another common reason for sleep deprivation. People who work various jobs or lengthy hours may not have sufficient time for adequate sleep. Shift workers who have to work for the whole night may also find it troubling to get the amount of sleep that they require.
Sleep deficiency may be instigated by other sleep illnesses or medical disorders. For example, sleep apnoea, a breathing disorder that leads to dozens of nightly awakenings, may obstruct both the extent of sleep and its quality. Other medical or mental health problems, such as pain or common anxiety disorder, can affect the quality and quantity of sleep.
Symptoms:
Inadequate sleep can affect how a person feels throughout their waking hours. Examples of these symptoms comprise:
• Slow reactions and thinking
• Reduced attention span
• Worsened memory recollection
• Poor or uncertain decision-making
• Lack of vitality
• Mood fluctuations including feelings of anxiety, nervousness, or bad temper
Effects:
The effects of sleep deprivation and sleep insufficiency can be severe and extensive. Acute sleep deprivation advances the risk of involuntary mistakes and accidents. Drowsy driving, which includes slowed response time and the threat of micro sleeps, can be fatal. People who are sleep deprived are more expected to struggle in school and work situations or to go through mood fluctuations that may disturb personal relationships. Chronic sleep deprivation can lead to an extensive range of health problems. Sleep plays an essential role in the operational functioning of almost all systems of the body, so a tenacious lack of sleep creates major risks to physical and mental health:
• Cardiovascular disease: Studies have found strong relations between sleep deficiency and cardiovascular problems comprising high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.
• Diabetes: Inadequate sleep seems to affect the body’s capability to control blood sugar, increasing the menace of metabolic conditions like diabetes.
• Obesity: Research has established that people incline to eat more calories and carbohydrates when they don’t get sufficient sleep, which is just one of numerous ways that poor sleep may be associated with obesity and problems upholding a healthy weight.
• Immunodeficiency: Sleep deficiency has been shown to lead to deteriorated immune function, including an inferior response to vaccines.
• Hormonal abnormalities: Sleep helps the body appropriately produce and control levels of various hormones, possibly increasing vulnerability to hormonal problems in people with sleep deprivation.
• Pain: Sleep-deprived people are at a greater risk of developing pain or sensing that their pain is increasing. Pain may cause additional sleep disruptions, creating a undesirable cycle of deteriorating pain and sleep.
• Mental health disorders: Sleep and mental health are closely connected, and poor sleep has strong links with conditions like depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder.
Treatment:
The plainest form of sleep deprivation treatment is getting a satisfactory amount of sleep, typically 7 to 9 hours each night. This is often easier said than done, especially if you’ve had a lack of sleep for several weeks or longer. After this point, one may need help from a doctor or a sleep specialist who, if needed, can identify and treat a likely sleep disorder.
The following are some of the most common types of sleep disorders:
• obstructive sleep apnoea
• narcolepsy
• restless leg syndrome
• insomnia
• circadian rhythm disorders
To detect these conditions, your doctor may order a sleep study. This is usually conducted at a formal sleep center, but now there are possibilities to measure your sleep quality at home, too.
If you’re diagnosed with a sleep disorder, you may be given prescription or a device to keep your airway open at night (in the case of obstructive sleep apnoea) to help fight the disorder so you can get a better night’s sleep on a consistent basis.
Prevention:
Ways you can get back on track with a healthy sleep schedule include:
• regulating daytime naps (or avoiding them totally)
• abstaining from caffeine past noon or at least a few hours preceding to bedtime
• going to bed at a fixed time each night
• waking up at a fixed time every morning
• following your bedtime schedule during weekends and holidays
• spending an hour before bed doing relaxing actions, such as reading, meditating, or taking a bath
• evading heavy meals within a few hours before sleep time
• abstaining from using electronic devices right before bed
• exercising frequently, but not in the evening hours close to bedtime
• reducing alcohol consumption
