Sleep Deprivation: Its effects on your mind and body and how you can prevent it

Have you been trying to lose weight, but nothing seems to be working? Do you feel like you have been moodier than usual and can’t figure out why? Have you been finding it more difficult to remember things and have trouble thinking?

It could be due to sleep deprivation.

A common myth is that people can learn to get by on little sleep with no adverse effects. However, research shows that getting enough quality sleep at the right times is vital for mental health, physical health, quality of life, and safety.

Not getting enough sleep can wreak havoc on your mind and body. Your mind and body need sleep, just as you need air and food to function your best. Think of sleep as another type of fuel. During sleep, your body heals itself and restores its chemical balance, and your brain forges new thought connections and helps memory retention.

The suggested amount of sleep for adults is 7 to 8 hours each night. When you get less sleep than that, as many people do, it can eventually lead to a whole host of health problems, including forgetfulness, inattentiveness, being less able to fight off infections, mood swings, and depression.

What causes sleep deprivation

Stress: Feeling overworked, having racing thoughts, or constant worry is a common cause of sleep deprivation. According to a stress and sleep study conducted by the American Psychological Association, “Nearly one-third of Millennials attribute lack of sleep to thinking of all the things they need to do or did not get done.” And “more than one-third of Millennials say they do not sleep at least eight hours a night because they have too many things to do and do not have enough time.” To make matters even worse, 21 percent of adults report feeling more stressed when they do not sleep enough.

Certain Medical Conditions

According to The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), these conditions include heart failure, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke or transient ischemic attack (mini-stroke), depression, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Aging

Have you ever wondered why your grandparents wake up at 5 am to watch the birds? It’s because sleep patterns tend to change with aging. Most people find that aging causes them to have a more challenging time falling asleep, and they wake up more often during the night and earlier in the morning.

The elderly tend to wake up more each night, spending less time in deep, dreamless sleep. This decreases their sleep time to 6–7 hours a night. Additional factors include medication side effects or health problems that may be keeping them awake.

Illness

Feeling unwell or under the weather can affect your sleep cycles. Sleep problems can be due to chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, arthritis, HIV/AIDS, lupus, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. Pain and fatigue from chronic illnesses can cause people to have trouble sleeping, and when they do sleep, it’s often not restful and can make them more sleepy during the day.

Sleep Disorders

These include insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and restless legs syndrome. See a doctor if you think you may have any of these:

Insomnia: There are two types of insomnia: sleep-onset insomnia is when you have trouble falling or staying asleep; and sleep maintenance insomnia is when you have trouble staying asleep.

Insomnia can be short-term (acute) or last a long time (chronic). It can also come and go. Acute insomnia lasts from 1 night to a few weeks. Chronic insomnia is when it happens at least three nights a week for three months or more. There is a treatment for this, but in most cases, there is no cure.

Sleep apnea: There are three types of sleep apnea:

1. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occurs when the airway at the back of the throat becomes physically blocked and causes temporary lapses in breath.

2. Central sleep apnea (CSA) happens because there is a problem with the brain’s system for controlling muscles involved in respiration, leading to slower and shallower breathing.

3. Mixed sleep apnea: When a person has both OSA and CSA simultaneously, it is referred to as mixed sleep apnea or complex sleep apnea.

It’s important to understand the underlying root cause of sleep apnea to treat it properly. Lifestyle changes, managing the underlying condition, or nightly use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP) machine, which helps keep airways open during sleep, can help.

Narcolepsy: The primary symptom of narcolepsy is excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). People with EDS can get overcome by an irresistible need to sleep during the day, often during everyday activities, and they can feel tired all the time. There is no cure for narcolepsy, but there is treatment.

Restless legs syndrome: People with RLS feel the irresistible urge to move, which is accompanied by uncomfortable sensations that may be described as aching, throbbing, pulling, itching, crawling, or creeping.

Moving your legs can relieve discomfort if you have restless legs syndrome. Because of this, sufferers might pace the floor, feel the need to constantly move their legs while sitting, and toss and turn in bed.

Symptoms of sleep deprivation

At first, sleep deprivation may cause minor symptoms. But if you have trouble sleeping over long periods of time, symptoms can become more serious.

Early sleep deprivation symptoms may include:

· Drowsiness

· Inability to concentrate

· Memory problems and trouble thinking

· Less physical strength

· Less ability to fight off infections

Sleep deprivation problems over long periods of time may include:

· Increased risk for depression and mental illness

· Increased risk for stroke and asthma attack

· Risk of heart disease due to increased blood pressure

· Risk of diabetes

· Increased risk for potentially life-threatening problems. These include car accidents and untreated sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep apnea, and narcolepsy.

· Hallucinations

· Severe mood swings

Basically, not getting enough sleep can throw off your body’s ability to control, regulate, and produce all kinds of chemicals and infection-fighting substances in your body.

Preventing sleep deprivation

If these are the causes and symptoms of sleep deprivation, how can we prevent it? This can be tricky, especially since life gets in the way and inevitably causes stress in varying amounts and because it’s sometimes difficult to pinpoint exactly what’s causing sleep deprivation.

The first thing you can do is find out how much sleep you need for your age group and strive for that number. Other ways of prevention are:

· Follow a regular schedule: Going to bed and waking up at the same time helps regulate your inner clock. Following an irregular sleep schedule has been linked to poor sleep quality and duration.

· Create a calming bedtime routine: Adopting a relaxing routine before bed can help you get in the mood to sleep. This can include taking a warm bath, reading, or meditating and allowing your mind to drift peacefully to sleep. Listening to calming music has been shown to help improve sleep quality. Apps like Calm can help with this.

· Create a comfortable environment: Sleeping in a quiet, dark room at a cool, comfortable temperature can help you sleep better. Being too active before bed, too warm, or in a noisy environment is linked to poor sleep.

· Minimize caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine: Studies have linked caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine use to lower sleep quality. Try to avoid caffeine in the afternoon and evening.

· Reduce your use of electronics: The excessive use of cell phones and electronics has been associated with poor sleep quality, mostly due to blue light. Even bright room lights before bed can negatively affect your sleep.

· Watch what you eat before bed: Large meals that weigh heavily in your stomach can cause discomfort and keep you awake at night. Similarly, drinking a lot of liquid can send you to the bathroom multiple times.

· Exercise your body: Studies have shown that being inactive is associated with poorer sleep and that getting exercise during the day may help you sleep better at night.

· Exercise your mind: “Mindfulness meditation is just one of a smorgasbord of techniques that evoke the relaxation response,” says Dr. Benson in a randomized clinical trial on Mindfulness Meditation and Improvement in Sleep Quality.

If you suspect that you have a sleep disorder, please don’t ignore it. Poor sleep can take years off your life — with studies finding that sleeping too little at night increases the risk of early death.

Alternatively, you should also talk to a doctor if you sleep more than 8 hours a night but don’t feel well-rested. This could be linked to a sleep disorder or other health problems

The most obvious form of sleep deprivation treatment is getting adequate sleep. This is often easier said than done, especially if you’ve been deprived of sleep for several weeks or longer. After this point, you may need help from your doctor or a sleep specialist who can diagnose and treat a possible sleep disorder.

Your doctor may prescribe medication and have you try other strategies to get your sleep pattern back on track. Depending on the cause of insomnia, a referral to a mental health professional may help some people.

To diagnose these conditions, your doctor may order a sleep study. There are options to measure your sleep quality at home, but some are still conducted at a clinic.

If you’re diagnosed with a sleep disorder, you may be given medication or a device to keep your airway open at night (in the case of obstructive sleep apnea) to help combat the disorder so you can get a better night’s sleep on a regular basis.

If you know you don’t have a sleep disorder but you still can’t sleep, try doing something else like reading a book for a few minutes. Throw off the covers if you’re too hot, or check on your children or pets. The anxiety of not being able to fall asleep can make sleep deprivation worse for some people, so instead of staring at the ceiling wondering why you can’t sleep, try to do something that will take your mind off it.

Works Cited

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Black DS, O. G. (2015). Mindfulness Meditation and Improvement in Sleep Quality and Daytime Impairment Among Older Adults With Sleep Disturbances: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Jama Internal Medicine, 175(4):494–50.

Cappuccio FP; D’Elia L; Strazzullo P; Miller MA. Sleep duration and all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. SLEEP 2010;33(5):585–592.

Cherney, S. W. (2021, December 15). The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Your Body. Retrieved from Healthline: https://www.healthline.com/health/sleep-deprivation/effects-on-body#Immune-system

Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS). (2021, November 19). Retrieved from More Than Tired: https://www.morethantired.com/symptoms-of-narcolepsy/excessive-daytime-sleepiness-eds/

Here’s What Happens When You Don’t Get Enough Sleep (And How Much You Really Need a Night). (2020, June 16). Retrieved from Cleveland Clinic: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/happens-body-dont-get-enough-sleep/

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Nayana Ambardekar, M. (2021, August 14). Sleep and Chronic Illness. Retrieved from WebMD: https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/sleep-chronic-illness

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