10 Signs you're not Getting Enough Sleep
by kalyani10
Despite the pressures of a ten-hour work day, running a home and a buzzing social life too, you seem to be doing just fine. Not only is that presentation being put up on time, but there is no reason to skip on Friday night bowling and Sunday family brunches too. The only things is perhaps that more than once you have to stay up late to get it all done. While you may not feel anything seriously wrong with your health, if you pay close attention, there may be signs telling you that you are not getting enough sleep.
- You forget things
Lately have you caught yourself walking into the same room the third time round and wondering what you came to get? Then again you probably forget where you kept car keys, important documents or perhaps the dress which you just got back from the dry-cleaners. Even special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries don’t seem to have escaped the fog in your mind and you end up feeling guilty or just plain silly when you realize that you have just missed wishing someone close to you on their special day. Adequate sleep is extremely important for alertness of mind. In fact memory consolidation is thought to be one of the functions of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Humans generally get the bulk of our REM sleep in the last half of their sleep session. Therefore if your night is cut short you will end up missing out mostly on REM sleep and one of the first signs would be repeated forgetfulness.
- Your diet goes haywire
Sleep balances the appetite hormones in humans. When you are getting adequate sleep, you will have fewer cravings for carbohydrates and the artificial energy found in sugary snacks. This means that you can then make those healthy food choices more easily. On the other hand lack of sleep disturbs the balance of hormones which either results you in eating you too much or too little. You don’t understand when you are hungry and your relationship status with food is goes haywire.
- You keep gaining weight
In keeping with the above point, lack of sleep means that your diet goes for a toss and you end up eating more junk food than ever, with the result that you pile on those extra pounds. Also sleep is the time when the body is producing most of its human growth hormone and testosterone. These hormones help to achieve and maintain a strong, lean body. Without adequate sleep, no matter how hard you try to keep to your diet plans and workout routines, your weight loss program will be far less effective than they would be if supported by just a bit more snooze time.
- You are still online
At 3 am, when the neighborhood is asleep, if you are still up replying to mails, tweeting, updating statuses or pinning, it is a good sign that you falling prey to unhealthy sleep habits. You may be able to sleep late the next morning, but the quality of your sleep has already suffered and the overload of information has not helped your brain either. While there is no doubting the usefulness of virtual connectivity, being online all the time is not only the start a major cause of unhealthy lifestyle but in fact could signal the start of psychological imbalance as well.
- You lose it more quickly
It is a no brainer that lack of sleep makes you irritable. So if you have been losing out on your shut eye, it is no surprise that you can’t seem to tolerate people around you these days - you shout at your family them and perpetually find fault with co-wokers. You are stressed and you have no idea when was the last time you felt happy. Irritability, lack of tolerance and impulse control problems have all been linked to sleep deprivation. This is true for people of all ages and genders which means that the entire family should be making healthy sleep habits a priority. Then the kids will be more likely to behave and you will be less likely to fly off the handle if they don’t!
- You are falling sick more often
One of the consequences of constant sleep deprivation is a lowering of body’s natural immunity. Because the body does not get enough time to do its restorative work due to lack of sleep, it’s immune system is weakened – you experience the results as more frequent infections when there does not seem to be any cause for it as well as lengthier recovery time. So if you have run out of sick leave at work, what you need perhaps is not another tablet; but just enough sleep.
- Taking decisions is more difficult
Tea or coffee”, “now or later”, “this or that”; these are the common question you keep asking yourself. While earlier you may never have given a thought to these matters, recently taking all sorts of decisions, from tiny to the massive, seem daunting to you. All this is the result of stress hormones raging in your mind because of lack of sleep which further blunts decision making powers of the mind.
- You are prone to accidents
Studies have shown that both chronic and short term sleep deprivation leads to slower reactions times. One study at Stanford1 even proved that sleep deprived people performed more poorly on reaction time tests than did people who were legally drunk.
- Things seem a blur
In case of severe sleep deprivation, the world seems a blur to you. Small acts like reading a watch or a road sign becomes visually difficult and you seem to keep stumbling, yawning or walking in a daze most of the times. Also you keep on repeating your actions without realizing. You don’t understand what exactly you are doing – as though your life is playing in a loop. All these are warning signs that are screaming out that you need to shut off yourself and fill up on your sleep debt.
- You can’t do without an alarm
In today’s busy world, an alarm clock seems indispensable to begin the day. Fact though is that it is yet another indicator how widespread the problem of lack of sleep is. When humans get their full quota of sleep, they can wake naturally at about the same time each day and an alarm is not required. Thus if you keep a regular schedule and avoid substances that alter the natural cycling of sleep and waking, you should not need to be yanked forcefully from your slumber in the morning. Waking to a jangling alarm clock is a nasty, stress inducing way to start the day. A natural, quiet and fresh awakening is a much more pleasant way to start the day.
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