We live in an age of high stress and the reality is that most of us struggle from a lack of sleep, meaning most of us are not getting the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep nightly. You have undoubtedly heard that sleep is important, but have chosen to disregard the advice of getting your nightly zzz’s. We’d like to change your mind and help you make sleep a priority. We encourage you to first check out our article, “The Importance of Sleep” to better understand why sleep is so important.
How Lack of Sleep Impacts the Brain and Body
The Brain
Sleep or lack of sleep has the ability to negatively impact many cognitive functions. Lack of sleep or sleep deprivation most significantly impacts attention, the ability to focus, and memory. In addition to this, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, have found sleep can impact your nerve's ability to appropriately communicate with one another, which can lead to slower response times, inability to focus, and negative impacts on the long term and short term memory.
Not only can sleep impact your cognitive (thinking) ability, it may also affect your emotional and mental health. Sleep deprivation can increase emotional reactivity, leading to mood swings, irritability, and increased stress. This is partly due to the amygdala, a region of the brain involved in emotional processing, becoming more reactive to negative stimuli when we are tired.
Lack of sleep has also been linked to higher risk of developing mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. Sleep disturbances are both a symptom and a contributor to these conditions.
The brain may also be negatively impacted in other ways, such as:
- Negative effects on brain plasticity, which can impair the brain's ability to change and grow, affecting learning and memory.
- Increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease. This may be due to the brain's impaired ability to clear out beta-amyloid plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer's, during sleep.
- The feeling of "brain fog" or mental cloudiness is a common consequence of sleep deprivation.
- Sleep facilitates the removal of toxins from the brain that accumulate during waking hours. The glymphatic system, which is more active during sleep, helps clear these toxins. Lack of sleep hinders this cleansing process, potentially contributing to the development of neurological disorders.
So what is all of this research telling us? The longer you are awake/the more sleep deprived you are, you will see negative effects on numerous cognitive functions. Meaning, lack of sleep is directly linked to decreased cognitive performance on many levels.
The Body
Much like the brain, sleep impacts our physical body and the ability to optimally function. Numerous studies have cited a link between lack of sleep and numerous physical conditions, such as:
- High blood pressure
- Cardiovascular disease
- Diabetes
- Depression
- Increased weight gain/obesity
- Increased hunger
- Irregular heartbeat
- Stroke
- Decreased libido
- Accelerated aging - dark circles under the eyes, fine lines, etc.
Make Sleep a Priority
Sleep is one of the most important needs of the human body, and we need to start taking it seriously. Think of those 7-9 hours of nightly sleep as a non-negotiable. This may involve making changes to your normal daily schedule, but it is time to make sleep a priority and start performing optimally mentally and physically.