Health Risks From Too Little Sleep

It’s often said that human beings spend a third of their lives asleep. In fact, recent research studies indicate that we need 8 ½ hours of sleep each 24-hour period. However, many people don’t get the sleep they need. Polls have shown that about 20 percent of Americans get fewer than six hours of sleep per night, and the number of people who do report getting eight hours is decreasing.

Lifestyle can play a major role in the development of sleep problems. Many activities, including television, the internet, and even work are available 24 hours a day. Stress from our work and personal lives can contribute to sleep difficulties. Concerns about family, finances, the economy, local and global crises, and the future can be significant factors. Too much caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol can cause problems with sleep, as well. Ironically, worrying about the trouble we’re having with sleep only makes the situation worse.

There’s a price tag for all of this lost sleep. Physical health risks associated with sleep deficits include heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Too little sleep has been linked with poor work performance, driving accidents, and relationship problems.

Mental and emotional effects can include difficulty focusing and concentrating, memory problems, decreased alertness, daytime drowsiness, and irritability. Severe sleep deprivation has been known to lead to psychotic symptoms (including hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking) and, in extreme cases, death.

If a person has a pre-existing mental health condition, such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia, sleep disturbance can be a symptom and an early warning sign for an episode of that condition. On the other hand, the stress of insomnia can be a factor that contributes to the onset or worsening of symptoms of that condition.

Insomnia itself may involve difficulty falling asleep; waking up during the night and having trouble getting back to sleep; waking up too early; and/or feeling tired upon awakening. It’s considered acute if it lasts anywhere from one night to a few weeks. Insomnia qualifies as chronic if it occurs at least three night per week for a month or longer.

Sometimes these sleep difficulties will resolve on their own, but there are things we can do to promote better sleep: 

• Setting and maintaining a routine (going to bed and getting up at the same times each day) can help improve sleep.
• Reserve the bed and bedroom for sleep and no work or other sleep-hampering activities (including television).
• Focus on relaxing activities leading up to bedtime.
• Set the stage for sleep: make sure the room is dark and quiet and the temperature is comfortable. 
• Don’t use caffeine, nicotine, or alcohol late in the day.
• Exercise regularly but not within three to four hours of bedtime.
• Don’t lie in bed staring at the ceiling; if you can’t fall asleep in twenty to thirty minutes, get up and read or do something that’s not too stimulating (again, no television) until you feel sleepy.

If your sleep difficulties continue, contact your primary health care provider to explore possible underlying causes and additional solutions. To schedule a sleep study at our Neuroscience Sleep Center, call 228-818-2530.

If you feel a lack of sleep is affecting your mental health, contact our Behavioral Health Services at 228-809-CARE (2273) for further information and more resources.