Sleeping problems? Believe it or not, I can relate because I have experienced sleep problems. Sleep is actually essential, and skipping sleep can have a lot of detrimental repercussions. Yet I also understand how in the evening, when everything is peaceful and nobody else is awake, is the greatest time to unwind, catch up on your favorite programs, complete some tasks or work, or just have some quiet “me” time while aimlessly scrolling around social media.
Perhaps you are attempting to sleep, but your mind keeps thinking about what needs to get done tomorrow and what you didn’t get done today. In either case, you are not dozing off.
1. Poor Immune System
In particular, if you already have a mental illness, are immunocompromised, or have an autoimmune disease, sleep deprivation can lower your immune system, making you more prone to illness, chronic medical disorders, and mental health exacerbations. Get help from a healthcare professional if you frequently become sick and have trouble sleeping, and make sure to boost your intake of any herbal remedies that may strengthen your immune system, such as Vitamin C.
2. Poor Physical Health
Many chronic medical disorders, such as respiratory and heart conditions, have been linked to sleep deprivation, including these. When the body is not creating enough of the hormones required for healthy thyroid functioning, which can affect not only our physical health but also our spiritual health (Throat Chakra) and our mental health, thyroid disorders have also been connected to poor sleep.
Our bodies receive the rest they require while we sleep, enabling any required hormone replacement or other “behind the scenes” work to take place.
3. Poor Productivity
Poor sleep, which includes having trouble getting asleep, having your sleep interrupted, and having trouble staying asleep, can seriously affect how productive we are during the day. It can worsen brain fog, which indicates that we aren’t appropriately refueling for our responsibilities.
This also implies that it may impede our ability to complete our tasks, and even while it may not be fatal to our bodies, failing to focus and be productive at work may be fatal to our pockets, leading to job loss and subsequent suffering.
4. Poor Mental and Emotional Health
I know directly how sleep deprivation can affect one’s mental health because I used to work as an emergency room social worker. This can be seen in patients with schizophrenia or even Bipolar Disorder II, when their mental health symptoms worsen due to insufficient or inadequate sleep, which can lead to manic or crisis periods. Poor sleep is like a toxin to the mental and emotional bodies, especially if you already have an underlying mental health disorder or diagnosis or if you practice poor mental hygiene. Hallucinations, disorientation, skewed thinking, or delusions may emerge from this, which may lead to poor decisions, harm to oneself or others, or worse.
5. Sleep Disorders
The duration and efficiency of our total circadian rhythm can be impacted by sleep disorders. One of the most serious effects of sleep deprivation is this. This has an effect on us physiologically and psychologically, but it can also increase the risk of more serious sleep problems or disorders, like sleep apnea and insomnia.
To encourage a normal sleep-wake cycle (like the sun and moon), which is ultimately good for your general health, it’s necessary to have a predetermined bedtime and wake-up time. Also, if we don’t get enough sleep, we can develop stimulant addictions or overconsume caffeine, soda, and energy drinks to maintain our wake cycle, all of which are bad for our health.
6. Forced Shut-Down
Have you ever been too exhausted to drive and had to blast music? I’m not sure who needs to hear this, but highway hypnosis is real, and it can increase your risk of a forced shut-down of the body comparable to a prompt computer or phone abrupt shut-down when you’re sleep deprived, especially while driving at night.
As I type this, I’m reminded of the scene in the beloved comedy film National Lampoon’s Vacation where Chevy Chase’s character, Clark Griswold, nods off while driving with his entire family inside. While he was fortunate to avoid any collisions or other harm in this scene, this may actually be fatal in real life.
7. Increased Irritability or Anger
Have you ever become irate or enraged while hungry? I think the expression is “hangry.” Well, it’s true that getting too little sleep might make us angrier. Maybe we should invent the term “slirritable” to describe those times when we get angry because we didn’t get enough sleep?
Alright, jokes aside, we should be aware of our agitation. This has an effect on the amygdala, a region of the brain that regulates our emotions and controls how we react to perceived dangers. Our “fight, flight, and freeze” reaction is automatically activated when we don’t get enough sleep and become irritated, aroused, or agitated. This affects how we react to events and our ability to regulate our impulses.
8. Poor Memory
We are more prone to making mistakes when we have sleep disruption because it affects both the area of our brain that stores memory and our general memory recall. I have firsthand experience with this happening with overworked nurses who play a critical role in keeping patients safe.
Lack of sleep can undoubtedly affect your memory of procedures, systems, structures, routines, and even fundamental dates, making you more susceptible to accidents and prone to errors. Depending on your line of work, this could be fatal if you are overworked and overtired. Indeed, one error might cost you your career and your life.
9. Weight Gain
If you don’t give your body a chance to rest, losing weight may be challenging. Our bodies are “burning the midnight oil,” as they say, and working when we rest and sleep. The body expends calories that could support weight loss by utilising the fuel and nutrition we provided for it throughout the day.
Obesity and poor weight management can result in chronic illnesses and other diseases that may hasten a premature death. As a result, it’s crucial that we give our internal body time to unwind and “clock in” to the graveyard shift while actually getting some rest.
10. Poor Libido
If the information I’ve provided so far hasn’t inspired you to try to make SMART objectives to better your sleep problems, perhaps thinking about how it might affect your sex life will. Yup! Sleep deprivation might lessen sex drive!
Lack of sleep can affect the body’s ability to create important chemicals that boost libido and sex drive. Insufficient hormone production brought on by sleep issues can subsequently result in serious sexual dysfunctions like erectile dysfunction disorder or infertility and even mood disorders, which can cause issues for you and your partner(s) both in and out of the bedroom and even strain relationships.
