What Happens When You Don't Get Enough Sleep

Sleep deprivation can have a deep impact on your physical as well as mental health. Unfortunately, today, sleep deprivation has become a worldwide concern.

An erratic lifestyle and constantly being surrounding by machines and gadgets have just worsened the situation.

If you have not had enough sleep for even one night, the resulting drowsiness the next day gets in the way of your mental concentration.

Since the brain is not rested enough, it will tend to be tired as it did not have enough opportunity to rejuvenate itself. Also, the nerves get strained due to lack of rest.

All this makes it difficult for you to focus on various tasks and pay close attention to your surroundings. If carried on for a prolonged period, this can lead to frequent instances of memory lapses, carelessness, and absent-mindedness.

What Happens to Your Body When You Don't Get Enough Sleep?

Lack of sufficient sleep has a negative impact on your mind and body. Insufficient sleep can affect you in a number of unpleasant ways:

▶ Lack of sleep can make you feel lethargic and listless, thereby disrupting your daily activities.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, 45% Americans claimed that poor or insufficient sleep affected their daily lives. Not only does sleep deprivation make your vision foggy, and your mind groggy, but it also adversely effects your well-being.

▶ Studies have revealed that lack of sleep leads to obesity. If you don't get enough sleep, you might gain weight around the abdominal region. This happens due to disrupted metabolism coming from chronic lack of sleep.

▶ Long-term and chronic insomnia has been known to cause memory loss and intellectual impairment in individuals who experience sleeplessness on a regular basis.

▶ The repair mechanism and immune system of your body get compromised if you don't get sufficient amounts of sleep.

Most repairs and replacement of damaged tissues occurs when we sleep, as then the vital functions of the body slow down, allowing the body to allocate more resources to tissue repair, replacement, and recovery.

▶ You're more likely to develop various psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem if sleep eludes you on a regular basis.

▶ Effects of sleep deprivation on the brain can be seen as difficulty in learning new skills and tasks as it reduces your capacity to concentrate and pay attention to any kind of training or tutorial session.

▶ Studies have found lack of sex drive in sleep deprived men and women.

▶ Besides obesity and other physical ailments, another effect of sleep deprivation on the body is related to aging.

When your body is unable to repair and replace its tissues properly and when the immune system gets weakened leading to other complications, the cells wear out faster and lead to rapid aging.

▶ Risk of cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, and diabetes increases when you don't get to sleep enough as besides your immune system, your endocrine system also gets disrupted, tipping the balance of hormonal secretions and related functions.

Considering the aforementioned points, it would be wise to grab at least 6-8 hours of sound sleep every day for a healthy body and a sharp mind.

Sleeping is something which everyone enjoys, no matter what they say otherwise. Therefore, getting your rightful quota of sleep is of utmost importance alongside having healthy eating habits.

Disclaimer: This story is for informative purposes only, and should not be used as a replacement for expert medical advice.