Many people do not get enough sleep, whether it is because they are too busy with work, their lifestyle, or other reasons. This condition is labelled as sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation is a sleep disorder that can affect anyone.
You might be wondering what the difference is between sleep deprivation and insomnia. At first glance, the two may seem similar, but they are different. To understand the difference, let’s take a closer look at the following explanation.
What Is Sleep Deprivation?
Sleep deprivation means that the body is not getting enough sleep. Sleep deprivation is a term used to describe a condition in which a person experiences a lack of sleep, both in terms of quality and quantity.
The cause of sleep deprivation is that a person does not have enough time to sleep due to their busy schedule and also habits. This is different from insomnia, which is difficulty sleeping even though they have plenty of time to sleep.
Sleep deprivation can affect your overall health. Lack of sleep is associated with several diseases, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and depression.
Additionally, sleep deprivation can also affect your performance and reduce your level of focus and concentration.
The amount of sleep needed varies from person to person, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that adults get at least 7 hours of sleep each night.
Symptoms of Sleep Deprivation
There are a few things that can be symptoms of sleep deprivation, like:
- Tiredness.
- Often feeling sleepy during the day, especially when doing relaxing stuff like watching TV.
- Yawning a lot.
- Getting angry or annoyed easily.
- Mood swings.
- Trouble focusing and remembering stuff.
- Weight gain.
The Effects of Sleep Deprivation
Sleep is as important for health as eating nutritious food. Lack of sleep can cause you to experience various health problems, including the following.
1. Weakened Immune System, Making You More Susceptible to Illnesses
One of the effects of sleep deprivation is that it can weaken the immune system, making you more prone to illnesses. This occurs because the proteins produced by the immune system during sleep are disrupted.
These proteins are responsible for fighting infections, inflammation, and stress. If sleep time is reduced, the body's cells cannot protect themselves from disease or stress. As a result, the immune system weakens, and illnesses can easily infiltrate the body.
2. Decreased Memory and Impaired Concentration
Another effect of sleep deprivation is decreased memory and impaired concentration. This is because during sleep, the brain's nervous system records all the events experienced and learned throughout the day into short-term memory.
Therefore, if someone experiences sleep deprivation, the brain's ability to process and store memories becomes impaired. Additionally, if sleep deprivation persists over the long term, it is not unlikely that the brain's ability to think and process information will decline.
Worse still, sleep deprivation can cause you to feel sleepy while working. This aligns with the decline in concentration abilities in any task, including completing work at the office.
3. Risk of Serious Illness
The final effect of sleep deprivation is the risk of serious illness. Long-term sleep deprivation can cause insomnia.
Research has found that insomnia triggers the onset of disease, one of which is heart disease. Heart disease itself is divided into several types, namely heart failure, arrhythmia, and heart attack.
During sleep, the body works to repair damage to blood vessels and heart cells. This is why someone becomes more susceptible to heart attacks or other serious illnesses if their sleep time is reduced.
Additionally, individuals with insomnia are at a higher risk of developing obesity, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer, and mental health issues.
4. Triggers Obesity
Along with overeating and lack of exercise, sleep deprivation is another factor that causes a person to become obese or overweight. Sleep can affect the levels of leptin and ghrelin hormones that control hunger and fullness.
Leptin signals to the brain that you have eaten enough. Without sufficient sleep, the brain reduces leptin levels and increases ghrelin, which stimulates appetite. This is why you often feel like eating or snacking at night.
Lack of sleep also makes you feel too tired to exercise. As a result, calorie burning decreases, leading to weight gain.
How to Prevent and Deal with Sleep Deprivation
The best way to prevent and deal with sleep deprivation is to focus on sleep hygiene. Here are some tips to help you get a good night's sleep.
1. Establish a Proper Sleep Schedule
It is often found that people do not get enough sleep because they consider it normal. Instead of trying to get more sleep, they prefer to drink caffeine to give them energy.
Caffeinated drinks may help you get through the day, but the effects of sleep deprivation will still hurt your body, both in the short and long term.
Therefore, do not consider sleep deprivation as something normal. Instead, focus on getting more and better quality sleep by establishing a proper sleep schedule.
For example, if you have to wake up at 5 a.m. every day, it is best to go to bed before 10 p.m. to get the ideal amount of sleep, which is 7–9 hours.
2. Make Sleep one of the Priorities
Sleep deprivation often occurs because people choose to sacrifice sleep to finish work or other tasks. To overcome this, you should make sleep a priority. Here are the tips.
- You should start to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day to build a routine.
- Set boundaries in your work and social life.
- Establish a pre-sleep routine, such as reading, meditation, brushing your teeth, or other activities.
3. Create a Comfortable Sleep Bedroom
To ensure a restful sleep, make your bedroom as comfortable as possible. For example, use a comfortable bed and pillows. Additionally, maintain a moderate room temperature. To minimize potential sleep disruptions, keep your room as quiet and dark as possible.
4. Avoid Things That Can Disturb Your Sleep
Preventing sleep deprivation can be done by avoiding all things that can disturb your sleep, such as:
- Electronic devices. If you want to get a good night's sleep, it is best to avoid using electronic devices close to bedtime, such as cell phones, tablets, TVs, and computers. This is because the light emitted by these devices can disrupt your circadian rhythm.
- Caffeine. Limit caffeine intake after midday or a few hours before bedtime, as caffeine can keep you awake all night.
- Naps. To prevent daytime naps from disrupting nighttime sleep, limit your nap time to a maximum of 30 minutes or less. Additionally, avoid napping in the afternoon.
5. Regular Exercise
Exposure to morning sunlight is beneficial for supporting a healthy circadian rhythm, helping you stay awake during the day and feel sleepy at night. Regular exercise can also contribute to a normal sleep schedule. Therefore, engage in light exercise daily.
6. Drink Enough Water
Drinking enough water is also a way to prevent and treat sleep deprivation. This is because drinking water can prevent your body from becoming dehydrated, which makes you thirsty and disrupts your sleep.
In addition, drinking enough water can also help prevent headaches, dehydration that causes a dry throat at night, and control your body temperature to stay cool by producing sweat.
That is an explanation of what sleep deprivation is. In conclusion, sleep deprivation is a sleep disorder that can be prevented by adopting a healthy lifestyle as described above.
You can start by drinking enough water, around 2 liters per day, to prevent midnight thirst that can disrupt your sleep.
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