Why Do We Need Sleep and How Much is Enough?

Sleep deprivation can be dangerous, and it can lead to other side effects that are unhealthy. Just to name a few side effects caused by sleep deprivation are:

Fatigue

Irritability

Careless mistakes

Problems with concentration

Poor or delayed responses

Increase in stress

Diminished immunity to illness and disease

Possible hand tremors

With that clarification in mind, what defines sleep deprivation? According to Levine, if you require the use of an alarm clock to shorten your "natural sleep pattern" or you feel sleepy when sitting in class or lack the energy required for your best performance, or you fall asleep immediately after lying down, you may suffer from sleep deprivation.

The answer is obvious as to why we sleep, we cannot survive without it. Without sleep we begin to deteriorate and lose the ability to think with complete rational thought. We must sleep so that our bodies may heal the tissues in our bodies, and our brain can rejuvenate overnight while we sleep. As we sleep we release a growth hormone from the pituitary gland which decreases as we age. We need this process to occur especially in children due to the fact that is how our bodies grow.

With a lack of sleep even in a short period of time such as a few days the body begins aging rapidly and causing problems with memory in some cases. Over the long term the effects can be detrimental to your health. The worst case scenario can cause the following problems:

Diabetes, because the body is unable to process the sugars in the body

Depression

High blood pressure due to the stress of sleep deprivation and impact on the body

Obesity

It is no surprise that modern day conveniences are also part of the problem in regards to sleep deprivation. The lights we use to work and learn, the television we watch, or we listen to for background noise or even or work and school schedules.

Now imagine that you are sleep deprived and responsible for driving a semi- tractor trailer fully loaded with 50,000 pounds of cargo, and you are sleep deprived and you fall asleep at the wheel. Imagine the repercussions and the injuries and lives lost due to something as simple as sleep. While there are of course laws and regulations in place to protect us from this, it can, and does happen. The same could be said for an air traffic controller who is responsible for guiding planes in landing and takeoff.

Psychologists have performed numerous studies which demonstrate that sleep deprivation is more likely to impact those who do monotonous tasks like driving, and have less of an impact on those who regularly perform short and highly motivating tasks.

It's actually more myth than truth that we all require at least eight hours of sleep per night. Many people do not sleep more than a few hours a night. Some people can sleep as few as six hours and function at high performance levels. This of course does not work for everyone. Children of course do require more sleep because they are still growing, in fact infants will sleep two thirds of their day away during the stage of their lives.

There are of course things that you can do to be rest assured that you will get a good night's rest. Some of these things are as follows:

Allow your body to unwind before bedtime; if you can avoid it don't go to bed right after walking in the door.

Turn the television off, sleep in a dark comfortable room.

Avoid caffeine, chocolate or rich foods before bedtime.

Try to have a regulated sleeping schedule if possible. This means waking up and going to bed at the same time each night. Your body will become accustomed to it, and thank you for the much needed rest.

Try to avoid taking naps if possible.

Exercise but not too late in the night, this may cause you to have trouble falling asleep.

Try drinking a glass of milk, it may help you sleep due to the raw ingredients which produce serotonin which promotes sleep in the human body.

Sleep deprivation is a serious problem but it can be dealt with in most cases by relaxation which will help the body recover and avoid any dangerous or detrimental side effects.