Plan to party all night and sleep all day? Sleep deprivation can lead to serious health issues, so make sure you get your 40 winks even if it’s during the day.
In this sleep deprived season, late nights become the norm, with people often not getting their recommended dose of shut-eye, which can have adverse affects on their health.
The National Sleep Foundation in the US recommends adults sleep seven to nine hours a night, which is a sufficient amount of sleep for the body to restore itself and function normally.
Not getting enough can be detrimental to your health in more ways than one. Dr Susan Partridge, a clinical psychologist from the American Center for Psychiatry and Neurology, says, ‘We are all familiar with the effect of too many late nights. Feeling tired makes it more difficult to concentrate, we feel irritable, we don’t respond as quickly and we don’t learn as well as we do when well rested. Using MRI scans, one study in the US in 2007 showed that sleep deprivation causes the brain to become incapable of putting an emotional event into the proper perspective and unable to make a controlled, suitable response to that event.’
While you are sleeping, your body is in a state of rest – but at the same time, it’s also working hard. Rapid-eye movement (REM) is the lightest form of sleep, which makes up around 20 to 25 percent of an average night’s sleep. While the brain is in this state – the stage of sleep in which we dream vividly – memories are consolidated and stored, which helps the memory work.
But if you don’t have a good night’s sleep, your brain won’t properly store your memories. A lack of sleep can also affect how we interpret things, impair reasoning, make us less alert and effect rational thought processes.
A lack of sleep can also cause discomfort, disease and in extreme cases, even death. A study in 2004 showed that sleeping increases healing. Rats with wounds were sleep-deprived and healed significantly slower than rats with wounds who had healthy sleep patterns.
Psychologist Abraham Maslow believed humans had a five-stage hierarchy of needs. Of these stages, the physiological one – which includes food, water, air and shelter – was most essential. According to Maslow, sleep is also an essential physiological need.
Maslow’s five stages filtered up to mental needs, such as health and employment. Maslow’s theory is that humans cannot progress up his pyramid of needs until all needs in each level are met. In other words, if you are malnourished and starving, you aren’t concerned with a need for self-esteem. So what he basically meant is that if you don’t get enough sleep, your body won’t function and you may struggle to progress mentally and emotionally as the body cannot overcome the need to sleep. Dr Susan adds, ‘In a landmark study of human sleep deprivation, University of Chicago researchers followed a group of student volunteers who slept for only four hours a night for six consecutive days. The volunteers developed higher blood pressure and higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which can lead to the breakdown of healthy skin, suppression of the immune system and internal damage. They also produced only half the usual number of antibodies to a flu vaccine.
‘The sleep-deprived students also showed signs of insulin resistance – which is a precursor of type two diabetes and metabolic slowdown. All the changes were reversed when the students made up the hours
of sleep they had lost. The Chicago research helps explain why chronic sleep debt raises the risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke and diabetes.’
Cutting back on sleep can also cause emotional damage and weight gain, and impair judgement and mental stability. Sleep deprivation is associated with road accidents, depression, forgetfulness and a decreased ability to pay attention – so if you are sleep deprived, you probably haven’t read this far.
There is a belief that sleep deprivation can be used during interrogation. The subject is sleep deprived for several days and then when finally they’re allowed to sleep, they are woken up and questioned
– causing the subject to feel disoriented and overwhelmed.
There is no magic number of hours for everyone, but seven to nine hours is safe. At this time of year, be sure to make time to rest.
Susan adds, ‘People tend to sleep poorly when they are under stress, particularly if they are also drinking too much coffee and cola, eating too much junk food and smoking too much. Christmas can be a stressful time of year with families getting together with high expectations and a busy schedule of preparations. Parties and social occasions can also mean we get less than we need, so this is a time of year when it is particularly important to ensure we are getting enough sleep.’
American Center for Psychiatry and Neurology, corner 11th and 26th Streets, www.americancenteruae.com (02 697 9999).
Trouble sleeping?
Dr Susan recommends, ‘Chamomile tea can help but try not to drink just before bed otherwise you’ll wake up to go to the bathroom. Essential oils such as lavender can help people relax, as can breathing exercises. Ensure your room is dark, quiet and a comfortable, cool temperature. Taking an hour before bedtime to wind down is also important. Exercise will help too, but always ensure you give yourself a few hours to wind down before going to bed. Falling asleep with the TV on will reduce the quality of your sleep.’
Keep rested with these tips from the National Sleep Foundation
• Establish consistent sleep and wake schedules, even on weekends.
• Follow a relaxing bedtime routine such as soaking in a hot bath or listening to soothing music.
• Sleep on a comfortable mattress and pillows.
• Use your bedroom only to sleep – keep ‘sleep stealers’ out of the bedroom, so avoid using a computer or reading in bed.
• Finish eating at least two hours before your regular bedtime.
• Quit smoking.
www.sleepfoundation.org.
Sleep debt
When people don’t sleep for long enough this creates a deficit, or sleep debt, that needs to be filled. Dr Susan says, ‘Sleep debt occurs when we are chronically sleep deprived. Most of us need up to nine hours a night. The amount varies with age – retired people need less while children and adolescents need more. If we need eight hours a night and only get six this leads to chronic sleep deprivation, or sleep debt. Catching up at weekends may help in the short term, but it’s not a long term solution as this restricts the amount of time we have for those non-work activities that are essential to a balanced healthy lifestyle. It will also still leave you feeling tired by the end of the week. If you are not getting enough you need to find a way of increasing the amount you are getting on a regular basis – so turn that TV off and go to bed!’
Slash your sleep debt – Susan’s top tips
• Don’t rely on caffeine or energy drinks as a short term pick-me-up. They may boost energy and concentration temporarily, but can disrupt your sleep patterns long term.
• Don’t use an alarm clock at the weekend.
• Do get enough sleep each night. Sleep debt recovery can take several weeks.
• Do tack on an extra hour or two of sleep a night at the weekend.
• Do go to bed when you’re tired.
• Do expect to sleep for up to ten hours a night at first – the amount will gradually decrease to a normal level.
