According to a sleepio.com article by Dr. Simon Kyle, “Like breathing, sleep is a fundamental human requirement. It has even been said that one could survive for three times as long without food as one could without sleep.”
Sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on the body in a number of ways. Patients with insomnia or those who have been chronically deprived of sleep for the purposes of scientific study have reported many symptoms, including:
● Hallucinations
● Cognitive impairment, including speech and memory problems
● Impaired judgment
● Weight loss/weight gain
● Problems with eyesight
● Increased risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack, heart failure, high blood pressure and stroke
● Increased risk of developing adult-onset diabetes
● Depression
● Premature aging
● Risk of death
Sleep deprivation also compromises the immune system, which leaves us at risk for bacterial and viral infections, combined with a slower recovery time. With all of the risks to which we expose ourselves by denying the body a chance to recharge and heal itself, we need to pay close attention to our body’s cries for help. Here are five signs that our body is telling us we need a nap:
You’re Ravenously Hungry or Can’t Stomach Your Lunch
Lack of sleep can completely disrupt your internal clock and leave you constantly feeling hungry or persistently full, even when you haven’t eaten all day. This is why so many people either gain or lose weight during prolonged periods of sleep deprivation. And it’s not just how much we eat that’s affected. According to the New York Times, research showed that depriving people of one night of sleep created pronounced changes in the brain’s response to high-calorie junk foods. On days when the test subjects got poor sleep, fattening foods like sweets and other junk foods stimulated stronger responses in a part of the brain that controls the body’s motivation to eat.
You’ve Checked Facebook, Scanned Your Email and Watched a Cat Video While Reading This Article.
If you’re sleep deprived, whether it’s because of a late night on the town or a new baby, focusing on simple tasks can feel like solving a complex math equation. Lack of sleep affects the ability to focus on just about anything other than how to sneak a nap in our office without getting caught snoozing on the job. Lack of sleep affects our productivity both at work and home. While it’s tempting to decide to pull an all-nighter to finish a work presentation or make final preparations for a family get-together or spring cleaning project (and while sometimes, this is an inevitability in our hectic lives), it’s important to remember what the results will be the following morning. A completed work presentation is worthless without the mental capacity to deliver it and answer questions. The most perfectly planned party means little if we aren’t alert enough to enjoy it and the guests for whom we prepared it.
Dude, Where Are My Car Keys?
Like all of your body’s organs, the brain needs periods of rest to process information, refresh and regenerate itself. This is part of why we dream -- our brains are processing the information that we’ve gathered throughout the day during periods of rest. When we deny our brain the ability to do this, our short-term memory can be affected, meaning we’ll have trouble remembering where we put our purses or car keys, remembering whether we locked the door or closed the garage, and remembering our task lists for the day. On a normal day, we might have the memory of an elephant, but after a few nights without sleep, we wind up feeling more like Dory from Finding Nemo.
Your Lips Are Moving, But I Can’t Process What You’re Saying.
On a good day, you may be blessed with the gift of gab and be able to work a cocktail party like a boss, but after a night or two without sleep, you’re left feeling like Porky Pig or Yosemite Sam. Sleep deprivation affects your ability to hold a conversation. It also affects your ability to articulate words and has caused subjects to speak in monotone patterns and with flattened voices.
You’re Driving While Drowsy
If you’re sitting at the office after a night without sleep and zone out while staring at the computer screen or sitting through a painfully boring office meeting, that’s one thing. However, if you find yourself farther down the road than you remember being or can’t remember having made that last turn on your route, that’s a sign that you need to schedule a nap, stat. Lack of sleep itself is detrimental to your health, but when you struggle to stay awake while driving or performing a task that potentially could put you in danger, that’s much more than a sign of being sleepy; that’s a risk that’s not worth taking. While many of us tempt fate by downing large amounts of coffee or energy drinks on long road trips, it’s important to remember that the energy burst we get from a cup of coffee is short-lived, and it’s better to pull over and take a nap than risk the deadly consequences of falling asleep behind the wheel.