- Lack of sleep: symptoms and signs
- How much sleep is healthy?
- Possible causes for lack of sleep
- Lack of sleep and its consequences
- Restful sleep: With these tips succeeds
- When you if you don’t sleep, see a doctor should
Lack of sleep: Most people suffer from it from time to time sleep disorders. Everyone knows that not feeling rested in the morning and that they “slept badly”. if lack of sleep however, if it persists, it can have a significant impact on everyday life and have far-reaching consequences, such as Utopia reported.
Healthy sleep: How much sleep do people need?
sleep researcher have found that On average, people in western countries now sleep about an hour less than they did 20 years ago. Another insight: If you don’t sleep enough, you do less work during the day without noticing it. Your body can get used to not getting enough sleep. As a result, the more people work, the more common are sleep disorders. But only those who have had enough sleep can achieve full performance.
According to various studies, people need seven to eight hours of sleep. A rule of thumb that you can remember is: If you can concentrate on working while sitting for a long time during the day without getting sleepy, you have reached your personal sleep quota.
That individual sleep needs can be found out very easily. Holidays are best for this. Always go to bed at the same time in the evening and don’t set an alarm clock. When you feel rested and awake, get up and write down the hours of sleep per night. This shows the personal amount of sleep that should also be aimed for during the working week.
Symptoms of lack of sleep: from headaches to microsleep
Lack of sleep manifests itself in different ways for everyone. Of course, the obvious symptom is extreme fatigue. Other symptoms include:
- headache
- burning and dry eyes
- concentration problems
- feeling of exhaustion
- increased freezing
- irritability
- microsleep
- hallucinations
The symptoms do not necessarily appear together. The signs can appear individually or in various combinations. In the short term, most can be combated with painkillers for headaches or caffeine for tiredness, for example. In the long run, however, one should try to find out the cause of the lack of sleep and to remedy it.
Lack of sleep: Possible causes and diseases
Sleep disorders that cause sleep deprivation fall into two categories:
Primary sleep disorders
- No physical or psychological causes can be found for primary sleep disorders. They occur due to stress or unfavorable sleeping conditions. As a result, they can be rectified more quickly when external circumstances change.
Secondary sleep disorders
- Mental illness: Depression, anxiety disorders, psychoses or schizophrenia usually always trigger sleep disorders.
- Organic or neurological diseases: Sleep disorders can also be triggered by these diseases, for example: chronic pain disorders (e.g. rheumatism), cancer, hormonal diseases (e.g. hyperthyroidism), restless legs syndrome, heart and lung diseases, chronic kidney or gastrointestinal diseases, Parkinson’s, dementia , multiple sclerosis, meningitis, stroke and epilepsy. Another condition can be sleep apnea. You can find all information about this in this article.
- Medicines: Some medications can cause insomnia as a side effect.
- Legal and illegal drugs: Sleep disorders can occur in the form of difficulty falling asleep, sleeping through the night or sleep apnea in connection with drugs. Drugs that disrupt sleep include alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, cannabis, heroin, cocaine and ecstasy.
Devastating consequences of lack of sleep
People react very differently to lack of sleep. A large body of research shows that lack of sleep can have devastating consequences if symptoms are left untreated. The various health risks as possible consequences include, for example:
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- An increased risk of cardiovascular disease
- Obesity, high blood pressure and high blood sugar levels
- The likelihood of diabetes increases
- Effects on the immune system and a higher susceptibility to diseases such as colds or flu
In addition, persistent lack of sleep makes you susceptible to mental illnesses such as depression.
Tips for a restful sleep
Since lack of sleep can have devastating long-term consequences, it is important early detection of symptoms and to take action against it. According to that Bavarian radio there are these methods for prevention:
- Train your “internal clock”: If you always go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time, you can get your sleep on a regular schedule, which will prevent insomnia.
- Reduce afternoon naps: If you take a midday nap, keep it to a minimum. 12 minutes is enough to feel fitter again afterwards.
- Avoid stimulating substances: Coffee, tea, nicotine or alcohol should not be consumed in the evening. Coffee and alcohol in particular disrupt the sleep rhythm and sleep continuity in the long term.
- Physical movement: Exercise in the late afternoon or early evening in particular makes it easier to fall asleep. However, vigorous physical activity should be avoided shortly before going to bed, as it wakes you up.
- Light meals in the evening: Digesting heavy meals disrupts sleep. Reading tip: Seven foods to help you fall asleep easily
- Not overcoming the “dead point”: If you are tired, go to bed and listen to your body’s signals.
- Ensure the right atmosphere: The bedroom should be cool, dark and quiet. Make your bed comfortable. Most importantly, the bed is for sleeping, leave it at that. The bed should be taboo for watching TV, working or eating.
Certain evening rituals also help you fall asleep. You can find out what they are here. If all of these tips don’t help with sleep deprivation, you should talk to your doctor.
Lack of sleep: when should I see a doctor?
If the lack of sleep lasts for more than two weeks or if the feeling of tiredness and exhaustion is permanent, despite all measures, you should consult your family doctor. If nothing is found in this examination, the family doctor will refer you to a neurologist or psychiatrist in most cases. These clarify an organic or mental illness.
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In a further step, one or two nights in the sleep laboratory can bring clarity to an organic disease. There, sleep behavior, brain waves, breathing, heart rate, oxygen content in the blood, eye movement are measured and behavioral problems are recorded on video.
The waiting time for a bed is usually two to three months. A result, on the other hand, is not long in coming. The result comes after about a week and the doctor can offer various therapy options. Recommended reading: Restful sleep – Is it all a matter of hormones?
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