In order to fully understand what sleep deprivation really means I have included the definition found on Wikipedia. I hope you get something out of this article to help you today and the rest of your life.
“Sleep deprivation is the condition of not having enough sleep; it can be either chronic or acute. A chronic sleep-restricted state can cause fatigue, daytime sleepiness, clumsiness and weight loss or weight gain. It adversely affects the brain and cognitive function.” – Wikipedia
There are negative repercussions when a person is sleep deprived. It involves altered alertness and cognitive thinking. It decreases brain activity and function. This means when you are driving to the store in busy traffic, you run the possibility of harming yourself and others. A car is a death machine when driven by an impaired driver. When you are sleep deprived, you are a liability to everyone.
In a study done in 1999, they had found that sleep deprivation reduced cortisol secretion. It was also found to enhance activity on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. It controls reactions to stress and regulates body functions. (Such as; digestion, immune system, mood, sex drive, and energy usage.)
If you have not been sleeping well, it could cause heart burn, and let your immune system slack. You will be issued a brand new box of tissues down at your local drug store. The body has a funny way to make you get what you need for survival doesn’t it?
It also was found that it suppresses the growth hormones. If your child is not sleeping, it will decrease the growth of your child. Our parents always said we needed sleep. We just thought we were missing something important at bed time.
Sleep deprivation can also negatively impact performance in the work place as well. There was a study done on medical residents with less than four hours of sleep a night. They made more than twice as many mistakes than the other residents who slept on a regular basis.
When a person is sleep deprived they also tend to miss out on a lot of activities that they normally would enjoy. For instance, playing basketball with your kids or taking a bike ride. In order to live a full and wonderful life, you must take care of your body, or your body will make you.
Signs of Sleep Deprivation include…
- Altered alertness
- Depression
- Inability to Focus
- Constant Illness (such as cold)
- Impairment to your concentration
- Irritability
- Dizziness
- Shaking
- Body aches and Pains
- Itchy or Burning eyes
- Increased Stress
- Sensitivity to Light
- Sluggishness
- Inability to operate machine
- Inability to perform for work
- Falling asleep – causing dangerous situations
All of these problems can be avoided if you would learn to; shut the TV off, stop playing the addictive game, learning how to stop over working yourself, and put your health first. Remember, you will not be able to accomplish anything if you fall asleep due to lack of sleep.
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