Lack of Sleep Side Effects

"Sherry was a college senior. Being on a full scholarship, Sherry was hard working and often topped her class. Now, that her senior year began, Sherry had a new regular routine, which, basically gave her only 3 hours of sleep everyday. She had classes, rehearsals, practices and studies. By the end of the, day or night (whatever that was) she was tired. Soon, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't cope with the pressures and for the first time in her college life, she failed a class. This caused her much distress and she decided to take corrective action. She contacted the college counselor and after a few sessions, the root cause was found. Sleep deprivation."

Lack of sleep side effects can often cause people to lose their nights sleep. No, I am not simply playing with words. Keeping the psychological and physiological lack of sleep side effects in mind, distress, is normal. It is also important to find out how much sleep do we need and tricks to fall asleep faster. Let us go deeper into the anti-blissful arena of lack of sleep.

Physiological Lack of Sleep Side Effects
I could choose to rant on and on with the side effects of lack of sleep. Lack of sleep causes headaches, lack of sleep causes depression, lack of sleep causes lack of energy, lack of sleep causes a lot more. Let's find out.

• Lack of sleep can cause acute muscle pains. You may have experienced this offhand after a night of incomplete sleep.
• Dizziness, nausea and headaches are well known side effects of lack of sleep. These side effects are tangible even after two consistent nights without much sleep.
• Irritability is probably the first visible side effect of lack of sleep. It is normal for someone who hasn't slept well at night to be irritable the next day.
• Memory loss and hallucinations are also acute lack of sleep side effects. In fact, the sad part about these side effects is that when you complain about it, seldom will someone believe you, right?
• A person having sleep deprivation is much more susceptible to having diabetes type 2 as compared to someone who gets the required amount of sleep.
• In fact, it has been researched and found that lack of sleep side effects at an acute level, resemble those of psychosis or attention deficit hyperactivity syndrome. Yes, scary!

All these lack of sleep side effects are visible. However, there are worse manifestations of lack of sleep side effects.

Serious Lack of Sleep Side Effects
Other than depression, lack of sleep side effects can be much more serious. Let's see.

• Lack of sleep suppresses the growth hormones and lead to higher levels of reaction to stress, urges for sex, immune system, moods, etc. This means that the individual starts losing his "self control".
• Sleep deprivation and psychosis have been closely linked by many studies. A person suffering from sleep deprivation is very much susceptible to being psychotic. And I don't mean this in an exaggerated manner.
• Lack of sleep side effects also rule over our healing abilities. Yes, lack of adequate REM and NREM sleep causes a slag in our ability in healing wounds. Lack of sleep effects also include affects on the immune system, hence, making it tougher to fight away diseases.
• This is something that almost everybody may have noticed. If you have not slept a night, you will find it difficult to perform your activities the next day. Lack of sleep causes impairment of abilities. This is what makes you clumsy or "butter-fingered" the next day.
• It has also been found that a lack of sleep side effect that has been under the radar for a while now, is obesity. So, not only is healthy eating required to avoid obesity, but also adequate sleep.

All these lack of sleep side effects begin to show after some time of sleep deprivation. One night without sleeping will not make you obese, however a regular lifestyle around it, will. So, if you find it difficult to fall asleep at a decent hour, find out techniques to fall asleep.

Read more on:

• Sleep Disorders
• Insomnia

Lack of sleep side effects are scary, yes! That is why they say "early to bed and early to rise, makes you healthy, wealthy and wise". Well, all I can say is that sleep for about 6 - 8 hours everyday, and you would be away from any of the above listed side effects. Too much sleep should also be avoided, but we can talk about that some other time. For now, I hope these lack of sleep side effects have willed you into taking a nap. This is where I sign off! Sleep well!