In today’s society, SLEEP deprivation has become an epidemic in the United States. We all know that we need sleep to survive, and yet so many of us are very sleep deprived. Is sleep deprivation really that big of a problem? How important is sleep? What are the consequences of having too little sleep? Let’s explore these ideas as well as get a better understanding of sleep in general.
Many times, if time itself is running short, we will choose to short our sleep time by going to bed late or getting up early. This really is not the best or most productive option. Sleep is one of the 3 pillars of heath (along side of exercise and nutrition). The quantity and more importantly, the quality of sleep you get each night affects all areas of your waking life: your mental sharpness, productivity, emotional balance, creativity, physical vitality, and even your weight. There is no other activity that you can do that will deliver as many benefits.
Let’s begin by understanding our sleep. While you sleep, your brain does not sleep. It stays very busy overseeing many biological functions that keep our body running in top condition. Decreasing sleep by just one hour can affect your ability to think and respond quickly while compromising your cardiovascular health, energy balance, and the ability to fight off infections. If loosing just one hour of sleep can do this, how much sleep do professionals say that we actually need? That depends on your age.
A 3-5 year old actually needs 11-13 hours of sleep per night and a 5-12 year old actually needs 10-11 hours per night. Let’s look at this for a minute. How many children do you know that are in these two categories and due to school schedules and a multitude of extracurricular activities and family activities get nowhere near this much sleep? I would contest that there are many out there like this.
A 12-18 year old needs, on average, 8.5-10 hours of sleep. Alright teens … I know that many / most of you just love staying up until all hours of the night and then are unproductive, cranky, and definitely not at your best when it is time to get up in the morning. If you go to bed at midnight, you would have to sleep until 8:30 - 10:00 am in order to get your needed sleep. Not many of you have the ability to do this. I know I was being generous when I said midnight as many of you stay up even later than that.
The average adult (18+) needs 7.5-9 hours of sleep per night. I know I just confronted our teens on their sleeping habits, but we adults need to do a check on ourselves as well. We can not be all that we are required and meant to be if we are not getting our enough sleep. How can we have the energy to raise and teach our children if we are deprived of sleep? Do we not try to feed our children “good” food for nutrition and get them physically involved in exercise for their wellbeing? We also need to teach our kids about the importance of sleep and what better way than by example?
Now that we know how much sleep we need (which was done by averages and within ranges) let’s discuss symptoms of sleep deprivation and its effects. You may be sleep deprived if you:
Need an alarm clock to wake up on time Get drowsy after meals or while driving
Rely on a snooze button Need a nap during the day
Have a hard time getting up in the morning Fall asleep while watching TV in the evening
Feel sluggish in the afternoon Feel the need to sleep in on weekends
Get sleepy in meetings or in warm rooms Fall asleep within 5 minutes of going to bed
Some of the effects of being sleep deprived are:
Fatigue or a lack of motivation Concentration and memory problems
Moodiness or irritability Weight gain
Reduced creativity & problem solving skills Difficulty making decisions
Reduced immunity (frequently ill) Increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, etc.
All sleep is not equal. There are 4 stages of sleep within two general areas. The first area is Non-REM sleep; this consists of 3 stages where each stage gets deeper as they progress.
Stage N1 is the transition to sleep lasting about 5 minutes when you slow down and are easily awakened.
Stage N2 is light sleep and lasts for 10-25 minutes and is the first stage of true sleep. Your eye movements stop, heart rate slows, and body temperature decreases.
Stage N3 is deep sleep. Here it is difficult to be awakened. This is the deepest stage of sleep; your brain waves are extremely slow and blood is directed away from your brain and towards your muscles to restore physical energy. Obviously, this stage is very important.
REM (rapid eye movement) Sleep is the forth stage of sleep. This stage begins about 70-90 minutes after you have fallen asleep. This is when Dreaming occurs. Your eyes move rapidly, you breathe shallows, and your heart rate and blood pressure increase. During this stage your arm and leg muscles are actually paralyzed.
The most damaging effects of sleep deprivation are caused by inadequate deep sleep. It is during this time that your body repairs itself and builds up energy to get through the next day. There are some common things that tend to affect deep sleep such as: Being woken up at night by noises or to care for a baby, working nights or shift work, and smoking or drinking alcohol in the evenings.
REM sleep is when our mind is renewed, and it plays an important role in learning and memory. During REM sleep, your brain consolidates and processes the information you’ve learned during the day, forms neural connections that strengthen memory, and replenishes its supply of chemicals like serotonin that boost your mood.
Making SLEEP a priority and scheduling it into your day (just like you would getting to work or taking the kids to a doctor’s appointment) can prove to be one of the most beneficial activities you put on your schedule this year. Let’s all remember to eat well, exercise, and get the sleep our bodies need!