Sleep deprivation is one of the leading causes of health disorders in the population worldwide. Sleep deprivation is mostly seen in people due to the over usage of digital technology, demanding jobs, social gatherings, and others. Sleep deprivation not only causes physical health disorders but it also affects your mental well-being. It makes you feel tired, fatigued, results in no creativity or productivity at work as your mind is not alert if you not sleep well at night. Studies conclude that sleep deprivation affects your mental functioning, it negatively affects your mood, reduces your level of focus and leads to cognitive impairment.
Sleep affects your part of the brain which is the hippocampus i.e. involved in making new memories. This moon-shaped structure is present within the temporal lobe of the brain where it performs distinct activity when we wake up. It encodes new information within the brain and keeps on recalling it when we go to sleep so that it stays in our brain forever. If we avoid sleeping well at night, we don’t make long-term memories instead we tend to forget things as soon as we learn about it because we are not allowing our mind to keep on recalling it and learn about it. The sleep
Sleep deprivation leads us to focus on negative experiences in life, primarily focus on misinterpretations, pick fights and tend to assume negatively regarding facial expressions. This negative emotional experience results in misinterpretation within different parts of the brain. In normal conditions, different parts of the brain i.e. amygdala, medial frontal cortex which is involved in regulating feelings and limbic systems which helps in emotional processing communicate with each other and tell us to feel relaxed and chill at all times. However, during sleep deprivation, there is a loss of connection between these parts of the brain making us feel wild and angry.
Sleep deprivation negatively affects your cardiovascular system. Heart and blood vessels need enough amount of sleep to remain healthy, maintain healthy levels of blood sugar and blood pressure with inflammatory markers. Sleep plays an essential role in initiating the healing process within the body where it aids in repairing the heart and blood vessels. People who are sleep deprived tend to suffer from cardiovascular diseases like stroke or heart attack.
Sleep deprivation is one of the risk factors leading to obesity and overweight. Sleep affects two important hormones in the body i.e. ghrelin and leptin which affect our fullness and hunger. Leptin is a hormone that tells your brain that you have had enough food but when you are sleep deprived it reduces the release of leptin and enhances the release of ghrelin i.e. an appetite stimulant. The impaired release of these two hormones causes excess snacking at nighttime and makes you feel tired. When you are sleep deprived, you feel tired and are unable to perform physical activity leading to weight gain and excess calorie intake. Sleep deprivation enhances the release of insulin within the body which controls the blood sugar levels. When excess insulin is released it promotes storage of fat and increases your chance to suffer from diabetes type 2.
Sleep deprivation suppresses your immune system and makes it weak against infectious agents. When you sleep, your body releases cytokines which are substances that combat viruses and bacteria. Cytokines allow you to sleep well and give more energy to your immune system to fight against illness. If you are sleep deprived you are at increased risk to suffer from chronic conditions such as heart diseases, diabetes, and others.
Sleep is essential for healthy physical and mental health. You need to limit the naps during daytime, refrain from any caffeinated beverages, try scheduling your bedtime and exercise regularly to sleep well at night.