Most of us don’t feel good after a night of little sleep. We especially won’t feel good if we get multiple nights of little sleep. This article will talk about the effects that extreme sleep deprivation can have on us.
Accidents
Accidents can result if we are sleep deprived. Of course, these accidents are in no way intentional, but our senses, reaction times, and energy are drastically lowered when we haven’t been getting enough sleep.
In this sense, sleep deprivation can be a safety hazard to the general public. It estimated that fatigue and sleep deprivation are the primary reasons behind tens of thousands of auto crashes every year.
Not only can sleep deprivation lead to accidents on the road, but they can also lead to accidents at work as well. Many mistakes can be made by us if we are feeling tired, which could potentially lead to injuries and repeated accidents.
Critical Thinking
We use critical thinking nearly every day at work. Having more sleep sharpens are critical thinking since we are well rested and attentive.
But feeling fatigued and being deprived of sleep has exactly the opposite effect. You may also have impaired memory and be unable to remember everything the previous day, which could have drastic effects on your learning ability for the next day.
If you want to keep your mind sharp, then you should get plenty of rest and sleep. Not only will your critical thinking be impaired, but your judgment might as well.
When you can’t interpret events very well because of impaired memory of the previous day, you won’t be able to react to a situation as you should.
People who suffer from sleep deprivation are much more prone to make poor judgments, and resulting decisions they make can sometimes not only affect them but the people around them as well.
If you think that you are acting just fine with less sleep, then you’re probably wrong.
Something else that can go wrong here is when people adapt to their sleep deprivation, or they get used to getting four or five hours of sleep each night instead of the more typical seven or eight.
As a result, they may think that they are acting fine and making the right judgments and decisions, but the reverse may be true.
This is why we can’t just assume that we aren’t sleeping impaired if we’ve adapted to getting less and less hours of sleep each night.
Health
Sleep deprivation will, sooner or later, lead to some health problems of varying degrees of seriousness.
If you are suffering from sleep deprivation, you are definitely at risk for various heart diseases, higher levels of blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis or stroke.
Scientific studies conducted have also shown that an overwhelming majority of people who suffer from sleep deprivation will have at least one other health condition as well.
Stress and Depression
It’s a well known scientific fact that people who suffer from sleep deprivation are far more likely to encounter high levels of stress and symptoms of depression as well.
People with sleep deprivation, especially those who can barely get a few hours of sleep each night, are many times more likely to develop depression than people who don’t suffer from sleep deprivation.
Ultimately, sleep deprivation and depression work together, as each one helps the other: the less sleep you get the more depressed you will feel, and the more depressed you feel the less sleep you will be able to get.
Age
The reality is that you will age quicker if you suffer from sleep deprivation. No, you won’t become old and wrinkly in just a few years time, but your body will age quicker than the bodies of other people.
This is because that when someone suffers from sleep deprivation, the body will release less and less of human growth hormones, which strengthen our muscles, skin, and bones.
Most of these human growth hormones are released while we sleep. Without the human growth hormones, it’s much easier to age.
You’ll start to notice dark circles under your eyes, graying hair, and less fine skin. You may also feel weaker and less energized as well.
Weight
A strong correlation has been found between gaining weight and sleep deprivation. The more we sleep the more weight our body loses.
But a lack of sleep will lead to an increased appetite, which in turn will lead to an increased weight.
People who sleep only between four to six hours a day are far more likely to gain a lot of weight or possibly even become obese than people who get a good amount of seven to nine hours of sleep.
Plain and simple, getting plenty of sleep will help you to lose weight (think of getting sleep as a makeshift weight loss program), but conversely not having enough sleep will cause you to gain weight.
What’s worse is that not having enough sleep doesn’t just increase your appetite for food…it specifically increases your appetite for foods that are high in fat and high in carbs.
If you are currently on a diet, not having enough sleep can impede that, and your entire diet could backfire on you.
Greater Risk of Death
Yes, ultimately suffering from sleep deprivation will mean that you’ll have a greater risk of death.
When you don’t get enough sleep each night, your health problems will gradually worsen.
The primary health problem that will arise will be with your heart, and suffering from sleep deprivation means that your risk of developing a form of heart disease can more than double.
As you can see, getting enough sleep is vitally important.
The risks of just gutting back a few hours on sleep each night far outweigh any possible benefits that you may find, so it’s extremely important that you do get a good night’s sleep in order to avoid these risks.
