Post 3: Are You Sleep Deprived?

Every night before I go to bed, I set my alarm for 7:30am. I also set other alarms for 7:35am, 7:40am, 7:45am…you get the picture. If I don’t set more than two alarms, I will not get out of bed or even sometimes not wake up at all.

I have always assumed that the reason why I have such a hard time waking up in the morning is because I never get enough sleep. But after reading a Women’s Health magazine, I learned that there is more to a day of exhaustion than just a lack of sleep.

Sleep helps the mind and body perform even the most basic tasks such as staying focused in school or learning a new dance routine. You also need sleep to help keep your immune system strong and to combat stress in your everyday life.

  

While you are sleeping, your body repairs cells, combines memories, builds bones and muscles, and stores up energy for the next days, weeks, and years to come. Also, during the time of shut-eye, your body produces a hormone called melatonin. Melatonin maintains the body’s circadian rhythm which controls our internal clock; aka when we fall asleep and when we wake up. But many factors that we aren’t aware of can affect our circadian rhythm while we sleep causing sleep deprivation.

Possible Factors That Can Affect Sleep

Sleep disorders are one of the number one causes of sleep loss. With over 90 different sleep disorders, insomnia, restless leg syndrome, and sleep apnea are the most common. Recent research has found why sleep problems are skyrocketing and stress is to blame.

 “Thanks to this economy, there has been a big increase in stress,” says Alan Lankford, PH. D., president and CEO of the Sleep Disorders Center of Georgia. “And stress can have a huge impact on falling and staying asleep.” If you are mentally tense at night, your body releases a stress hormone known as cortisol which acts like an adrenaline shot that keeps you from sleeping.

Another factor that contributes to lack of sleep is the exposure of artificial lighting from a television, computer, or cell phone. A study conducted by the University of Haifa in Israel found that excessive exposure to artificial lighting during night time interrupts cell growth which is directly linked to blocking the production of melatonin. If not enough melatonin is produced while sleeping, then this cycles back to not being able to sleep.

So even if you are able to fall asleep at night, there are things still affecting how you sleep; which is why many of us feel exhausted even after an eight hour night’s sleep. 

As I kept reading my Women’s Health magazine, I realized that not only do I have trouble waking up in the morning, but I also have trouble falling asleep at night. My question was, is there a way to put my sleep issues to rest? Silly me, of course there is! There are multiple ways of falling asleep quicker and easier.

Number One: Stick to a Schedule

“Routine is important,” says James Maas, Ph.D., coauthor of Sleep for Success! Everything You Must Know About Sleep but Are Too Tired to Ask. “You have one biological clock- not one for the workweek and one for the weekend. You need to synchronize it and go to sleep around the same time every day.” By not having a consistent snooze schedule, it confuses your brains sleep center and increases your chances of having restless nights.

Number Two: Stay Cool

When you finally fall asleep, your core body temperature drops about a degree and a half. Try keeping your bedroom temperature at 68°F. If that doesn’t work, try taking a hot bath, says Lankford. As your body cools, it transitions more easily into sleep mode once you lie down.

Number Three: Pillow Talk

If a routine before bed and staying cool while you sleep still isn’t the solution to your madness, try cognitive behavioral therapy. Shelby Freedman Harris, Psy.D., in New York City said that acupuncture, massage, or meditation can help soothe you before you go to sleep. These tricks can possibly change negative sleep-related thoughts and reduce sleepless anxiety.

Hopefully now you understand what causes a lack of sleep, why, and how to fix the problem (not including sleep disorders). But I’m sure many of you are still wondering what the basics are when it comes to sleeping such as what the best bedtime is.

On average, most people need seven to nine hours of sleep per night but in reality, one size doesn’t fit all. To know if you are getting the right amount of sleep, take the time that you wake up and count backwards seven and a half hours to determine what time you need to hit the hay. If you wake up just before your alarm goes off, that means you are well rested. But if you were still fast asleep, try going to sleep 20 minutes earlier each night until you find the bedtime that works for you.

Another basic question you may be wondering is whether napping during the day is beneficial or not. Many experts say that if you are sleep deprived; try taking a nap before 3p.m. and only allow it to last about 30 minutes. If you sleep longer than 30 minutes, your body may enter a deep-sleep phase and it’ll be harder to wake up. After your nap, you should feel more alert, engaged, and re-energized. If napping doesn’t work for you, experts also suggest taking a quick walk to refresh yourself.  

How do you know if you are sleep deprived? There are actually five different signs that you may be sleep deprived which include the following:

1. Simple decisions turn into exaggerated importance
2. Eat all day and are still hungry
3. Weak immune system
4. Extremely emotional
5. Clumsiness

Now that I am finished with this post, I can finally get some rest. With my four alarms set for tomorrow morning, I am hoping-even after I have studied all of this-that some of it will be beneficial for me in order to wake up more easily. We’ll just have to see. Goodnight.