Causes Of Sleep Deprivation

04/08/08 21:07

I know this is going to hurt and it's probably not what you want to hear, but it's the truth, whether you like it or not: if you are suffering from a sleep disorder, you are causing it! That's right; the number one cause of sleep deprivation is your lifestyle; the choices you are making everyday are going to dictate whether or not you will sleep at night. If you are having some sort of sleep problem, most likely you are doing or not doing something that's is causing it.

People always argue and fight about the causes of sleep deprivation; they spend years and millions of dollars developing drugs that will supposedly solve insomnia... But you know just as well as I do that this doesn't work. And not only do sleeping pills not work, they are potentially dangerous and in the vast majority of cases, cause even more sleep or health problems. As a matter of fact sleep medication consumption is one of the lifestyle choices that can directly cause sleep deprivation.

I know you probably think this sounds crazy and are wondering "What? How can sleep medications be the cause of sleep deprivation and sleep disorders?" They may not be the direct cause; other poor lifestyle choices may trigger the sleep deprivation, but sleep medications will only increase the problem and add more negative components to it. But enough about sleeping pills, this is not the topic here, if you want to learn more about this read Chapter 23 (p.129) of How To Get A Better And Healthier Sleep Starting Tonight

Here is a non exhaustive list of the causes of sleep deprivation:

• Caffeine consumption (calculate your caffeine intake)
• Alcohol consumption
• Smoking
• Stress (calculate you stress level)
• Working shifts
• Lack of routine
• Poor scheduling
• Inadequate exposure to light (improper amount and wrong time)
• Bad bed
• Inadequate room temperature
• Poor diet
• Being overweight/obese
• Inadequate "before bed activities" (such as watching TV, working, being on the computer...)
• Lack of or no exercise
• Medication consumption
• etc...

The one exception that wouldn't be a lifestyle choice causing sleep deprivation, would be an illness or a physical pain. But you would have to ask yourself "Why do I have this pain or illness? Is it because of poor lifestyle choices?"

So the point and conclusion of this section is that you are totally responsible for your own sleep problem, you created it, you nurtured it and now you have to find a way to fix it. But let me tell you this: fixing it will not come from the outside in (such as taking a pill), but from the inside out (making the proper changes in one or probably many areas of your life).

If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.

-Photo by seraphimc-

Tags: Sleep Deprivation