… and yet getting up early in the morning again. Anyone who really wants to always finds a reason not to sleep. “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” is a common saying. But is it really a good idea to skimp on sleep because there seem to be too few hours in a day? The consequences of sleep deprivation are not to be underestimated.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION AND YOUR PHYSICAL HEALTH

In today's society it seems like the standard: those who don't stuff their schedule are lazy. You feel under constant pressure to perform, to do everything perfectly. Being 'busy, busy, busy' is seen as something positive. In addition, one of the first things we are going to save on is often our sleep time. Though that's just anything but positive.

An occasional poor night's sleep or not much sleep, intentionally or unintentionally, is obviously not a problem. But if you do this regularly, it becomes a chronic sleep deficiency and that is not good news for your health.

If you don't sleep for one night, it already affects your resistance, skin and hunger feeling. If you sleep less than 6 hours a night for a week, you damage the functioning of no less than 700 genes.

And even worse: those who consistently sleep less than 6 hours a night increase the risk of premature death by 12%! A chronic lack of sleep can lead to high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and heart failure. In men, it even affects fertility.

INCREASED RISK OF ACCIDENTS AND MEDICAL ERRORS DUE TO SLEEP DEPRIVATION

Sleep deprivation quickly leads - already after 1 night - to reduced eye-hand coordination. Consequence: the chance of an accident triples after 1 sleepless night and of course this only gets worse the less you sleep. It has even been proven that some global disasters such as Chernobyl and the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger are due to lack of sleep.  

The medical world can also speak about this, because a lot of medical errors are (among other things) caused by a lack of concentration due to sleep deprivation. New doctors in particular regularly work in shifts of 24 to 36 hours. Research at Harvard University concluded that there are 36% fewer medical errors if you let doctors work shifts of 'only' 16 hours and a maximum of 80 hours per week. Well worth it, isn't it?

MENTAL HEALTH

Still not convinced you should get more sleep? Well, think about the fact that your mental health will also deteriorate if you don't get enough sleep. The risk of mental illness would increase due to sleep deprivation. These include anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders and depression.

Your brain also needs time to recover every night: updating your memory, storing what you learned during the day, processing emotions, etc. If your brain doesn't get that time, you will affect its functioning. You will be more susceptible to negative thoughts, it will become more difficult to deal with feelings and to react to stress.

Conclusion: respect your sleep! Avoid sleep deprivation.