I rarely sleep. I feel blessed by the lord almighty himself if I get five to seven hours of sleep. This is because I am extremely productive between the hours of seven at night and 3 in the morning. Also, I get caffeine cravings around this time and I drink the miracle that is sugar-free monster. My neurologist hates me for all of this. He has begged me for years to change my ways given how bad it is for me to have these sleep habits.
After doing a tiny bit of research, I can see why my neurologist is in despair for his favorite patient with chronic migraines and anxiety. In an article by Sarah Klein of the Huffington Post, some very typical lack-of-sleep side effects were listed: groggy, inability to focus, struggling to do typical activities at your usual speed, and the need for a nap. Some signs I wasn’t aware of were being ore emotional than usual, as well as being hungrier and even clumsy. The article also claims that to avoid this, we need to be getting seven to nine hours of sleep on a regular basis.
If those side affects of sleep deprivation weren’t bad enough to convince you to actually go to bed, it gets worse. An article by Camille Peri, published by Web M.D., illustrates even further why sleep is so essential. According to the article, it can cause health problems. Most people with insomnia experience another health condition; these include heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes just to name a few. The next point the article makes should be especially troubling to the young men reading. Sleep-deprivation lowers your sex drive. As well, men with really bad sleep apnea had extremely low levels of testosterone. In short, no sleep means no sex. Insomnia is also linked to depression and anxiety. Those diagnosed with either anxiety are depression are likely to get less than six hours of sleep a night. Finally, to those of us worried about the freshmen fifteen, not getting enough sleep contributes to weight gain. This is due to the fact that sleep deprivation lowers leptin levels; which is the chemical that makes you feel full.
I’ll stop worrying you, and myself, with the plethora of horrible things that come with sleep deprivation. Instead, let’s just get some sleep.
Links used:
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/10-results-sleep-loss#3
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/18/scary-sleep-deprivation-effects_n_2807026.html
Source: Huffington Post
I also sleep rarely! But I have been used to taking a nap about 30 min at noon. I usually go to bed at 3:30 a.m. and wake up at 8:30 a.m. By the way, I don’t get caffeine. I know my current life schedule is very unhealthy. But I already fit in this biological clock. In my statistic class, I read a research that the study which based on more than 78000 nurses found that working nights may increase breast cancer risk. So according from this post and the research, it is easy to get that sleep less and working at night is very unhealthy. So we should keep a regular and healthy schedule. Additionally, I think doing exercise may benefits to regulate the schedule.
Hey Madison, nice post, very relatable for college students! I usually try to get eight hours every night, but my current living situation (supplemental housing) makes that a bit difficult. I remember learning about the health risks for not getting enough sleep when I was in middle school – concurrently the time I would get about four or five hours of sleep a night. After I learned of the side effects you mentioned, I tried to go to bed earlier and get in at least seven hours. However, I often have trouble staying asleep, where I wake up multiple times in the night, or, more recently when my roommate’s alarm goes off at 7am for her morning classes, getting back to sleep in the morning. I found this article about some reasons why some people, like myself, can have trouble sleeping. While I don’t think I have insomnia, I think my problem might be leaning more toward and underlying condition I’m not entirely cognitive of.
I was very pleased to see that your research matches my work ethic, as I am a strong believer that going to bed earlier will be more beneficial in the long run rather than working later. In my experience, any homework or studying I do after 11 pm usually isn’t my best quality. Instead, I like to time manage to get my work done earlier! Usually, I will do my hardest and most vigorous tasks in my peak of productivity, which is around lunchtime personally. Then, I save my homework that requires less critical and creative thinking for the later hours. However, a good night sleep is essential to having the energy to put my best work forward for the next day. If anyone needs help with time management, I recommend checking out this! https://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_HTE.htm Hopefully, enhancing your productivity will avoid the harmful effects of all-nighters that were mentioned in the blog.