Sleep deprivation is a condition marked by getting too little sleep. The deprivation could be chronic or acute, often leading to fatigue, sleepiness during the day, clumsiness and weight gain or loss.
What Causes Sleep Deprivation?
People who fail to get six or more hours of sleep every night regularly may suffer from sleep deprivation or other sleep conditions. The causes of sleep deprivation can be physical and/or psychological. These causes can be grouped into four broad categories.
• Lifestyle: Poor diet & incomplete nutrition, excessive use of alcohol, caffeine and smoking may all lead to lack of sleep and health. Exercising too close to sleeping time also delays sleep
• Medical Conditions: Certain medical conditions are also a cause for sleep deprivation such as stress and depression. Chronic pain, asthma etc could be some physical conditions causing the same. Pregnancy may also trigger sleep deprivation.
• Medications: Certain medications or larger doses of others may also lead to sleep deprivation. If you feel this is the reason behind your lack of sleep, don’t stop taking your medicines or alter the dosage without first consulting your doctor.
• Clinical Sleep Disorders: If none of the above seems to be the cause and you still can’t sleep, you might be suffering from a clinical sleep disorder such as sleep apnea, insomnia or narcolepsy. Under such circumstances, it becomes critical to see a medical practitioner.
How does Sleep Deprivation Affect You?
If you are suffering from sleep deprivation, you can be assured that it does not only rid you of a good night’s sleep and hence good health, but it also affects your work, relationships and your safety.
While those lacking sleep are at a higher risk for diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, depression and obesity, their work life is often also disturbed. With impaired concentration and slower reaction time, the probability of errors increases resulting in poor work quality. Sleeping at work is also reported in some instances. Such people have markedly reduced patience levels and increased irritability, which affect their friends and family directly. Personal and work relationships of sleep deprived people mostly suffer and may go to the point of getting severed.
The risk of traffic and workplace accidents also increases mainly due to a lack of attention and the inability to concentrate resulting from this condition.
How can Sleep Deprivation be Treated?
Treating sleep deprivation depends upon the cause of this condition in an individual. Small changes like getting a more comfortable bed and/or pillow, taking a hot bath before going to sleep and avoiding exercise too close to sleeping time can help when the underlying causes are more lifestyle based. Other treatments include:
• Herbs like valerian Root and lemon balm
• Melatonin based supplements
• Aromatherapy
• Prescription and non-prescription medicines
• Antihistamines
A safe sleep deprivation treatment is one that has minimum or no side effects and precisely targets the symptoms. While prescription drugs, over the counter medicines and antihistamines almost always have side effects, traditional natural sleeping aids provide a safer solution. NightCalm is a remarkable all natural sleeping aid containing valerian root, lemon balm and melatonin, which provides you an excellent solution for sleep deprivation.
