Restless Reprieve: Understanding the Dangers of Sleep Deprivation

RING RING RING

Your alarm on your phone goes off at 7:00 AM on the dot. You sigh as you roll over to your phone, and press the stop button to turn it off. You went to bed at 2:30 AM last night after working on assignments you procrastinated on, and as you get up to go to the bathroom, you already wish for the day to be over so you can go back home and nap. Once you get ready to leave, you head downstairs and start to walk out the door, only to realize that you forgot about your phone upstairs. You sigh as you go back upstairs, as anger starts to build up inside of you. As you head back downstairs to walk out the door, you think to yourself, “today is gonna be a long day”.

As college students, there are a variety of reasons as to why one might not get much rest such as having to work late hours or thinking about stress from the day. It is stereotypical for students to stay up for long hours working on assignments or partying until the early morning. Many are willing to work through the effects of sleep deprivation by doing things such as catching up on sleep at “a later time,” or consuming caffeine to work through the tiredness. While it seems like the short term effects of sleep deprivation only stick around temporarily, a lack of sleep can cause serious damage to the body and brain in the long term. Even though it seems tempting to pull that all nighter, the effects sleep deprivation has on one’s body will cause both short and long term damage.

Why Do We Sleep?

Even with a large number of studies, it is still unknown why we need to sleep in the first place. There are many different theories proposed by scientists as to why we sleep such as the energy conservation theory and the brain plasticity theory. The energy conservation theory states that sleep is important for lowering a person’s energy demand during the night and part of the day, when hunting is least efficient (1). The brain plasticity theory states that sleep is needed to help the brain develop in structure and function (1). For example, sleeping helps to develop gray matter which is important for memory consolidation and emotional regulation (2). In one study, sleep disturbances in children who were age two and older were associated with decreased gray matter volumes (2). There is no one correct answer as to why we sleep and it is believed by scientists that these ideas, along with other theories, all play a role as to why we need sleep (1). Currently, we know that sleep is important for neurons to communicate with each other properly, and may be necessary for clearing toxins that build up in the brain throughout the day (3).

What Causes Sleep Deprivation?

Even if you feel like you got a good night’s rest, there are a variety of factors that can cause you to still feel tired after waking up. The CDC recommends seven hours or more of rest for adults 18 and over and even just one night of improper rest can cause you to feel sleep deprived (4). Other factors that can affect sleep deprivation include the time you go to bed at, not getting good quality rest while you sleep, or having a sleep disorder that interferes with sleep. The time you go to bed affects the stages of sleep your body goes through. There are four stages of sleep made up of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-REM sleep. Stage 1-3 consists of non-REM sleep, and the last stage is REM sleep (3). The body goes through these stages around 4 to 6 times a night, with each cycle lasting 90 minutes (5). As the night progresses, REM sleep lasts for longer, beginning from 10 minutes to 1 hour (5). Earlier in the night, sleep tends to consist of Non-REM sleep cycles which are deeper and more restorative. As day time occurs, sleep tends to consist of lighter REM sleep cycles. The times that non-REM and REM sleep occur are fixed, so if you begin your sleep cycle near daybreak, you will be more likely to go through REM sleep as you rest. Therefore, even if you do get at least seven hours of sleep, going to bed early in the morning can still cause you to wake up sleep deprived as you will only primarily experience REM sleep. The recommended time to go to bed for your brain to get enough non-REM sleep and REM sleep is from 8 PM to 12 AM (6). Both the amount you sleep and when you go to sleep play a role in causing sleep deprivation. 

There are a variety of sleep disorders that a person can have such as insomnia or restless leg syndrome (RLS). These disorders can be caused by a variety of factors such as a person’s genetics, medications they are taking, or if they have mental illnesses or conditions that interfere with sleep. Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder and it causes a person to be unable to fall and stay asleep. RLS occurs when you feel an uncontrollable urge to move your legs, along with feeling tingling or prickly sensations in your legs (7). Effects are at their most severe while a person is resting, and once a person wakes up from RLS, it can be difficult for them to fall back asleep (8).

Sleep Deprivation - Short Term Effects

People often feel irritated or emotionally unstable when they do not receive proper rest. These negative emotions are believed to be caused by decreased connectivity between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. The amygdala is important for negative emotional responses, while the prefrontal cortex stabilizes emotions and moods by suppressing the amygdala; sleep deprivation makes it difficult for this suppression to occur (9). Additionally, various aspects of cognition are negatively affected by lack of sleep such as decision making and memory formation (10). MRI scans of sleep deprived subjects showed impaired brain activity in the frontal lobe, which is the region involved in the aspects of cognition stated above (11). Lack of sleep can also interfere with the body’s hormonal balance. In one study, healthy adults that were sleep deprived for 5 days in a row ate more and gained more weight (12). As well, lack of sleep can cause you to act the same as if you were legally drunk. According to the CDC, being awake for 17 hours is the same as someone having a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.05%, and 24 hours is akin to having a BAC of 0.10% (13). In the United States, the legal BAC is 0.08% (13), meaning that an all-nighter is equivalent to having a BAC above the legal limit. Overall, the effects of sleep deprivation are comparable to being under the influence of alcohol and even just one night of improper rest is enough to cause a variety of detrimental effects on an individual’s body and capacity to function properly.

Sleep Deprivation - Long Term Effects

The effects of long term sleep deprivation can be life-threatening as it is associated with a variety of diseases, such as obesity and diabetes (14). For obesity, a study that measured 500 adults over 13 years found that adults that slept for less than 6 hours were 7.5 times more likely to have a higher body mass index (BMI), after controlling for factors like family history and amount of exercise (15). For diabetes, adults that slept for 6 hours were 1.7 times more likely to have diabetes, and those that slept 5 hours or less were 2.5 times more likely (16). Lack of sleep is also related to early death, with those that sleep for 5 hours or less having an increased death risk by 15% (17). This observation has also occurred in various animal studies such as a study involving sleep-deprived fruit flies. The fruit flies that died were noted to have a build up of reactive oxidative species (ROS) in the gut (18). ROS are molecules that can damage DNA and other cells. When sleep-deprived fruit flies were given antioxidants to clear ROS, sleep deprived fruit flies were able to live to a normal lifespan. 

Serious side effects can also happen when staying up for extended periods of time. The longest recorded time a person has stayed awake is held by Randy Garnder at 11 days (19). During the process, Garnder experienced extreme nausea and difficulties in remembering events (19). Decades later, Garnder suffered from extreme insomnia and was able to drift off over time, but could only sleep at most for six hours (19). The effects of sleep deprivation observed in Garnder’s case shows that, either by staying up for extended periods of time or getting less than the recommended hours, permanent long-term damage can occur.

Ways To Improve Sleep

If you have a sleep schedule that is shorter than the recommended amount, what are some ways you can fix it? According to the CDC, ways to improve your sleep include being consistent about when you go to bed, making sure your bedroom is comfortable and dark enough to sleep in, removing electronic devices from your bedroom, getting exercise, and avoiding consuming large meals or alcohol before sleeping (20). This cumulation of healthy sleep habits is known as “sleep hygiene”, and having good sleep hygiene is important for getting good quality rest (21). Getting good quality rest comes with a variety of benefits such as improving your mood, reducing stress, clearer thinking and getting sick less often (22). If your sleep problems continue to affect you even after practicing healthy habits, you can make a diary of your sleeping habits to discuss with your doctor (23). In the diary, you can mention a variety of things such as when you wake up and you go to bed, if you consume anything containing caffeine or alcohol, and any medications or supplements you are currently taking (23). 

Conclusions

If you are someone that struggles with your sleep schedule, perhaps you can start off by changing one thing, such as removing electronics from the bedroom before sleeping. This is important as electronics such as your phone emit what is known as blue light. Blue light suppresses the production of melatonin which impacts your sleep-wake cycle, also known as your circadian rhythm (24). If you rely on your phone as an alarm, you could invest in a traditional alarm clock, or change the settings so apps lock around 30 minutes before bed. Sleep is often undervalued in our lives despite how important it is to maintain our health and daily functioning. While it may seem inconsequential to lose out on a few hours of rest, it is important to remind yourself about the physical and mental benefits of getting proper sleep.

References:

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