Sleep Deprivation Facts

Sleep Deprivation is the shortage of quality and uninterrupted sleep. Sleep Deprivation can seriously affect your health by weakening the immune system. Sleep Deprivation may also disrupt daily performance at work or school. With our busy lives in this society it is very common to be Sleep Deprived. Sleep Deprivation can also be associated with sleep disorders such as Insomnia, Sleep Apnea or Restless Leg Syndrome.

Are you Sleep Deprived?

• Do you fall asleep watching TV?
• Do you need an alarm clock to wake you up in the morning and hit the snooze more than once?
• Do you fall asleep within five minutes after you lay down to go to sleep?

If you have answered yes to any of the above questions you are more than likely Sleep Deprived. A few of the many consequences of Sleep Deprivation are reduced alertness, memory impairment and even weight gain. Many times people who are Sleep Deprived do not even realize it; they feel like its normal to feel sleepy in a boring meeting or after eating lunch. It is not normal, and it is unhealthy.

Sleep Tips

A few things can easily be done in our busy lives to try to get a healthy quality sleep. First thing is to try to establish a regular sleep schedule, where you go to bed at the same time every night including weekends and get up at the same time every morning. Sleep hours can vary for each person but allow yourself about 8 to 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep. The second thing is to try to get an uninterrupted nights sleep by reducing stress before going to bed. Take a hot bath or read a good book, do not think about everything you need to do the next day, it will still be there tomorrow. Most important is to try to maintain a bedtime ritual once you find what works for you.