2+ million treatments delivered
Fizza Mahmood
04 Jun 2024
Sleep is an important part of health and well-being. Ensuring enough sleep plays a vital role in physical, mental, and emotional functioning. It is a common struggle for most people.
Individuals may sleep less to fit in their hectic schedules however, sleep studies have found that sleeping less than 6 hours per night is not enough.
Sleep quantity is the amount of hours a person spends asleep, while sleep quality refers to how deeply one would be sleeping. Both are important. Sleep is broken into various stages through which we go multiple times a night. The stages play a role in repairing cells and preparing the body for the next day.
For a well-rested sleep, we should spend adequate time in each stage of sleep and without waking up too many times. The quality of sleep is hard to estimate; it is something which can easily be over-/under underestimated. A quality sleep cycle is critical for the mind and body. It is important for mental as well as physical health, immune system function, appetite regulation, and cell and tissue repair.
Sleep disorders such as insomnia can also interfere with performance issues, mood changes, and daytime sleepiness.
Circadian rhythm is the bodys internal clock, running in the background to carry out essential functions. It is important to keep a consistent routine and sleep schedule to maintain a healthy circadian rhythm.
Although the afternoon slump is quite natural, waking up feeling unrefreshed after a night's sleep, or having trouble during a work day, could be signs of sleep deprivation. Sleeping on a day off is a sign that work week sleep hours are not enough, and often this can present as feeling drowsy whilst watching TV, attending class/meeting, or sitting in traffic.
A very sleep-deprived person may experience microsleep, in which they fall asleep for just a few seconds at a time. If this becomes a regular occurrence, people may believe they have adapted to less sleep however, it makes people more irritable, anxious, and depressed. They can also suffer from a lack of attention or decreased reaction time.
As per the National Sleep Foundation, newborns and infants need 12-17 hours of sleep, whereas toddlers need 11 to 14 hours per day. Children aged 3-5 years need 10-13 hours per day, whereas primary school children need 9-11 hours per day. The age groups from 13 onwards need an average of 7-9 hours of sleep each day. Hence, for healthy sleep cycles, 6 hours is insufficient sleep.
It is in our deep sleep when our body strengthens muscle, bones, tissue, and immune function, and hence it's important that we get enough deep sleep to help the brain and body prepare. Usually, we fall into deep sleep within an hour of falling asleep and typically spend upto 20% of the night in the stages of deep sleep.
Sleep loss can have immediate effects of daytime drowsiness, reduced motivation, and lack of energy. It can include trouble concentrating as well as problems with memory, learning, and problem-solving. Having consistently less sleep can cause impaired decision making, a higher chance of accidents, and increased risks, especially in older adults.
Sleep deprivation can cause irritability and restlessness as well as difficulty managing emotions. Prolonged sleep issues can increase the risk of developing mental health issues like depression.
Furthermore to feeling fatigued, individuals can get generally unwell if sleep is an issue. A couple's sex drive can also be derailed due to a lack of sleep. Insufficient sleep affects the overall quality of life.
When individuals are running short on sleep, they may notice they have poor coordination and slow reaction time when they run short on sleep. If sleep deprived, athletes run more slowly, show less strength, and are unable to perform to their best ability.
In the long run, consistent sleep deprivation has been associated with a higher risk of chronic health conditions. These can include obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and mental health disorders consisting of depression and anxiety.
Children are the opposite and tend to act out and be hyperactive when they get insufficient sleep. Kids may also have trouble paying attention in school. Mood swings, anger, being impulsive, and sadness can be due to sleep loss.
There are daily responsibilities and mental stressors that affect our ability to sleep. Our work schedules can affect the sleep-wake cycle, leading to poor or insufficient sleep. Familial and social obligations can also take up time, especially when they take place in the evening.
Sleep delaying can be tempting; it has low priority in comparison to other activities. Especially if individuals are consuming alcohol and drugs can interfere with the body's natural rhythms and make it more difficult to drift to sleep. Other health conditions like anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and sleep apnea can also contribute to not getting enough sleep.
There are multiple strategies which can be implemented to improve sleep habits.
If the sleep issues have been persisting for a few months or improving sleep habits have not been helpful, consulting with a doctor to prescribe sleep aids and determine the underlying cause would be beneficial.
Fizza is a registered pharmacist with APHRA and has been with Simple Online Doctor since 2023. With a Bachelor of Pharmacy and 8 plus years of experience as a pharmacist, Fizza has a strong passion to improve patient care via enhancing the quality and continuity of care delivered through digital health platforms.
Tyson is a clinical pharmacist in charge of the development and improvement of patient services. He provides clinical support to our team of healthcare professionals and ensures patient health and wellbeing are at the centre of all our services.
Last Reviewed : 04/06/2024
View Account
