Lack Of Sleep And The Consequences Of It

Lack of sleep is common in teens and adults. In a world saturated with instant gratification, excessive stimulation and lack of patience, basic needs often become like sleeping again on a second level.

In the same way, the constant changes in working hours and the various artificial lights and technologies everywhere emphasize it.

The consequences of these changes manifest themselves at different levels, such as cognitive, emotional and biological. Today, it is generating new conditions such as insufficient sleep syndrome. Everything is a priority in this society, but sleeping is not one of them.

The sleep process

Sleep is an important physiological condition. It involves a reduction in alertness and awareness to develop processes for the integration of brain activity and change physiological processes. In addition , the circadian rhythm is what helps you to switch between waking and sleeping states.

It is also important to know that there are two important sleep phases that should always take place in the same order.

• The first stage is NREM sleep, where there is no rapid eye movement. It is divided into four phases:
  • NREM1. A light sleep where a person can easily wake up and they still perceive internal and external stimuli.
  • NREM 2. A sensory access blockage occurs in the body and it lowers muscle tone and heart rate. In addition, the brain waves begin to slow down, so the brain calibrates the activity.
  • NREM 3. In this the brain waves continue to decrease and the sensor block is larger. Growth hormone production increases.
  • NREM 4. This and previous steps are the phases of the deepest sleep, and there is a predominance of delta waves.
• The other is REM sleep. The presence of rapid eye movements is its most important characteristic.

Here the muscle tone and airways decrease and the heart rhythm becomes irregular. This is the moment during sleep where the brain is most active and conscious dreams arise with a guiding thread.

Brain activation and lack of sleep

Via cerebral imaging, a global reduction in brain activity was observed when a person’s sleep time was reduced.

Nevertheless, researchers specified that the largest decrease in this activity occurred in the prefrontal cortex and in the ice sheet. This measurement was done especially with oral activities, and researchers believed that it was a consequence of the brain’s extra work while trying to stay awake and alert.

Does lack of sleep affect your cognitive functions?

Today it is clear that it is important to sleep in order to develop cognitive function during the day. Researchers found that a decrease of 1.3 hours of sleep per week during a week leads to a 32% reduction in alertness. It has consequences for both physical and cognitive activities.

Memory and learning

Memory and learning are processes related to proper sleep. Researchers found that the information people acquire during the day consolidates during sleep. Furthermore, they found that sleep is important for learning.

Because of this, the reduction in the amount of daily sleep affects these functions. There are different aspects of memory related to the different phases of sleep in the mentioned studies.

For example, consolidation and encoding of new information in memory is dependent on REM sleep and the NREM 2 phase. Therefore, not completing all these phases can create problems for consolidating memories. The effects can, for example, lead to poor academic results.

It is also a relationship to learn new information. In this case, sleep deprivation reduces the activity of the hippocampus, an important structure for memory coding. Thus, it is an obstacle to storing information as well.

Attention

Similarly, researchers found that lack of sleep leads to the type of daytime sleepiness that directly impairs a person’s attention. Here, the monitoring capacity is reduced, so that it loses or omits the relevant elements needed to perform an activity.

It is also difficult to stay focused on the same activity for a long time. Adding the increase in your reaction time may cause a problem such as a car accident or you may fail a test.

Reaction time

When there is a lack of sleep, the reaction time usually increases significantly. It is also more likely that a person makes mistakes when doing certain activities. Thus, they need more time to do something, and even then they may have trouble following up properly.

This affects several facets of their lives, such as their academic performance, as it can lead to them not understanding or not performing a task as indicated. You may also observe problems in automated activities such as driving a car. This is because they may not react quickly enough in a daily situation.

Does lack of sleep affect the emotional sphere?

This is another significant aspect of sleep deprivation. Researchers found that sleep deprivation causes temporary changes in mood, which creates feelings of depression and anxiety in a person.

Similarly, little sleep affects your emotional intelligence and constructive thinking. It has several outcomes. The first is intra-personal function. This is because lack of sleep reduces self-confidence, the feeling of independence and personal growth.

The second is that it affects interpersonal function, as empathy towards others is reduced, along with the quality of your relationships. Researchers observed that there is a decline in recognizing emotional gestures associated with joy and anger. As a consequence, it significantly affects your relationship with others.

In the end, one doubts experiencing problems with proper stress management. Therefore, a person suffering from sleep deprivation will have difficulty controlling some of the impulses in such situations. There is also a delay in activating the satisfaction system, which can increase stress during the development of some situations.

The relationship between lack of sleep and physiological activities

Sleep is closely linked to physiological activities and it is important to regulate your cognitive, emotional and physical activity. Among the main systems we find:

• The immune system. Lack of sleep weakens your immune system and forces your organs to work harder and increases your risk of getting sick.
• The cardiovascular system. Researchers found that people with sleep problems have a higher risk of hypertension, heart disease and heart failure.
• The endocrine system. Lack of sleep increases cortisol levels and reduces thyroid hormones. Therefore, one has a higher risk of obesity, diabetes and chronic fatigue.

Inadequate sleep syndrome

This is a disorder in which a person does not get the nightly sleep they need to stay awake during the day. It does not have an organic origin, but is caused by external factors. This is mainly due to a voluntary sleep restriction motivated by other interests that come into play, such as having fun or working late.

This is common in teens and students, as many are often bored during the day. They also need help getting up in the morning so as not to be late.

Some of the factors associated with lack of sleep are:

• The changes in adolescence.
• The use of electronic devices.
• Schedules and professional load.
• Use of stimulants.
• Emotional problems or stress.

Conclusion

Finally, let’s emphasize the need to sleep as much as you need. As you can see, not getting enough sleep has negative emotional, cognitive, and physical consequences. Therefore, sleep is fundamental to your performance on many different levels, not only physically but also mentally.

As you can see, you need to think about the risks of not getting enough sleep. Therefore, make it a habit to prioritize sleep over other activities. In the long run, you will feel the result of such an effort in your body, and you will feel good about it.