Sleep Deprivation Effects
The rats in group number one,
deprived of REM sleep, lived an average of 5 months.
The rats in group number two, deprived of all sleep,
survived only about 3 weeks.
This
experiment shows us that even though rats can survive
an incredible 3 weeks without any sleep, it
dramatically shortened their life-span.
But enough about rats, lets looks at the physical
effects of sleep deprivation on the human body:
• Memory
problems
• Chronic pain
• Attention problems
• Poor motor responses to stimuli
• Difficulty controlling emotions, mood swings
• Increased risk of motor vehicle accident: A 1998
study by the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration estimated that approximately 100.000
motor vehicle accidents each year are the results of
the driver being drowsy or fatigued at the wheel
• Increased risks of certain diseases
• Depression
• Irritability
• Increased risk of work related accidents
• Decreased work performance
• Social problems, marital problems
• Lowered immune system
Those are the dangers of sleep
deprivation. As you can see the effects can be really
dramatic, the simple fact that sleep deprivation
lowers your immune system is scary enough, since this
can lead to many other health problems. Not to
mention the direct link between sleep deprivation and
car accidents.
Do you ever find yourself irritated, depressed, or
not able to pay attention to things the way you were
able to? All of these are direct physical effects of
sleep deprivation.
The link between sleep deprivation and stress is even
more important than you can ever imagine. So if you
find yourself stressed or experiencing any of the
above, maybe it's time to get some adequate rest.
If you want more information on how to
solve your sleep problems simply click on this
link.
-Photo by sunface13-
Napping Myth # 5 - Naps Make You Groggy
Not if you keep it short. Do you
remember when we talked about the sleep cycles and
the different stages? Well they come in handy to
understand why you may wake up groggy from your nap.
Let me explain: as long as you stay in the first
stages of sleep, you will be able to wake up and be
energized. But if you enter the deep stages of sleep
during your nap, then that’s when trouble starts; it
will be much harder for you to get up, and you will
feel as if you were waking up from a 6 month
hibernation period. You will be groggy!
The length of a sleep cycle, if you remember, is
approximately 90 minutes; you certainly don’t want to
nap for that long, nor do you want to enter deep
sleep. So again, time is critical, I highly recommend
a 20 minute nap, 30 minutes tops.
If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.
Napping Myth # 4 - Napping Will Prevent You From Sleeping At Night
Yes it will, only if you don’t
respect a certain set of rules. But if practiced the
proper way, there will be no such problem. If the
time of the day you nap is appropriate (early in the
afternoon, rather than late) and your nap is kept to
a short time (no more than 30 minutes), it will not
affect your night sleep in a negative manner.
If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.
Napping Myth # 3 - You Have To Have A Bed To Nap
This is probably the biggest
mistake some people make when napping, and it is the
very reason why some of you have problems sleeping at
night. By definition a nap is short, as opposed to a
full night of sleep. O.K., now do you remember when
we talked about bed associations? Let me refresh your
memory; we said that your brain needs to associate
the bed to sleep; there needs to be a special
physiological response occurring in your body as soon
as you think about going to bed and as soon as you
lie in it.
The mistake people make when napping in bed is that
they train their brain to associate the bed with a
short sleeping session (nap), and when comes the time
to sleep at night, their body automatically thinks,
they are going to take a nap and they end up waking
up. Of course this doesn’t happen in a day; it takes
a while for the brain to create the association, but
if repeated enough, you will unknowingly create your
own sleep problem and as you take your daily nap in
bed, you are re-enforcing the erroneous message.
Or even worse; if the bed is already associated with
night time sleep, you may find yourself taking too
long of a nap, which is totally the opposite of what
napping should be. I am not going to tell you all the
places where you can take your nap, because besides
behind the wheel or a few other inappropriate
locations you could virtually nap anywhere, except
for your bed of course. As a general rule, if it’s
comfortable and quiet enough, then it’s somewhere you
can nap.
If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.
Napping Myth # 2 - Napping Is Time Consuming
Well it can be if you don’t know
how to nap. Napping is one of the most efficient way
to recuperate and refresh yourself. As you will see
the best naps are the shortest ones. 15 to 20 minutes
is all you need, and honestly who doesn’t have 20
minutes during the day to spend on their health (yes
napping is a healthy habit).
We all waste time on things that are detrimental to
us or not so productive; so instead of wasting this
precious time, invest it in a nap. Not only is it not
time consuming, but I’d say it’s time saving. Let me
explain; by taking a nap you allow your body to rest,
to take a break from your usual activity and recharge
itself. When you wake up after 15 to 20 minutes, you
will be refreshed and ready to go, and therefore more
efficient in your work, which will allow you to
accomplish more work in a shorter amount of time as
well as a better quality work.
Some countries and individual companies are now
realizing how much more efficient their employees are
when they take a nap through the day so they decided
to encourage napping at work, and some even enforced
it! I recently saw a show on a small company that had
reserved a special room, where all employees would go
once a day take a short nap, and go back to work.
After implementing this, their productivity shot
through the roof and so did employee satisfaction.
Not only is a nap not time consuming, but it improves
your performance and productivity. That’s something
you should tell your boss....
If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.
Napping Myth # 1 - Napping Is Only For Kids
There couldn’t be anything further
from the truth. Granted the urge to nap is stronger
in the younger ones, but this isn’t an age exclusive
activity. We all need to rest at some point during
the day.
Yes the human body is a superb machine that can go
and go some more. But imagine driving your car all
day from 8 to 5 everyday. Is it going to “age”
faster? You bet it is!
The need for napping or at least taking some time to
rest never really disappears from the basic human
needs. So if you thought napping was only for kids,
think again.
If you want more
information on how to solve your sleep
problems simply click on this
link.
