A new “miracle pill” hits the market touting the ability for users to function on only one hour of sleep a night. It sounds too good to be true; right? I believe that this product’s claim deserves analysis. Hence, it is my duty, as a psychologist, to guide clients in the direction of “doing no harm” to themselves or to others. In this essay, we will discuss the possible drawbacks of sleep deprivation. Also, we’ll highlight the benefits of experiencing a full night of sleep, including the benefits of dreaming. It is understandable why some would find the ability to sleep less advantageous to their busy lifestyle. However, what they don’t know can hurt them. What professional psychologists have learned is that sleep provides our brains and body with a much needed rest and restoration period. There are five cycles of sleep that allow us to achieve just that. Stage one through four are stages of sleep ranging from transitioning from wakefulness, to falling into a deep sleep. Stage five, the final stage, is called REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. These five cycles take about ninety minutes to occur. The question then becomes; what happens when only one hour of sleep interrupts the sleep cycle. Research from sleep studies show that people who are sleep deprived are more irritable and have a lack of concentration and creativity. This diminished capacity means a person is more prone to making mistakes at school, work or even when engaging with other people. Additionally, one could put lives at risk due to a slower reaction time when driving a car. Or, they could risk the lives of others while performing this simplest of everyday tasks. Consider this: there is a reason why the U.S. Department of Transportation changed its’ industry standards to regulate the hours of sleep required for truck drivers all over this country. Another major consequence of obtaining only one hour of sleep a night: “Sleep is a requirement for normal human functioning (Feldman, 2013).” The five stages of sleep provide the needed rest and restoration for our brains and bodies to work properly. During the course of a day, the body and brain are constantly receiving, analyzing and processing information. The cycles of sleep
Sleep is a beautiful thing, but people do not get enough of it. It is a time for the body to rejuvenate and process the events of the day. Sleeping is something that we seek out. Getting the recommended amount of sleep allows our body to function properly the next day. Without it, there could be detrimental consequences. The National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke says that without sleep, neurons could be “polluted with byproducts”. In severe cases, people who get very little sleep often experience mood swings, hallucinations and cells do not continue to reproduce.
This article explains the importance of getting the perfect amount of sleep at night. The idea that sleeping for less than five hours or more than nine hours proves to have a negative effect on the human body. Sleep deprivation has a closely related link to memory retention and can cause a person to have trouble with daily task. The author continues to explain that not only is the brain effected by too little or too much sleep, but the rest of the body is also effected. Conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and even depression have links to not getting the perfect amount of sleep. The article concludes with listing tips to get the ideal amount of sleep at night, such as, going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day and limiting the amount of caffeine that is consumed throughout the day.
Everyone needs sleep and it will make a day go smoothly or completely ruin someone’s rest of the day. Every human, animal, and most insects require a sufficient amount of sleep to function normally thought-out their day and night. On average humans need about seven to ten hours of sleep, as a normal requirement for the brain to recover conventionally. However, 40-50 percent of Americans do not get enough sleep every night (Information on Insomnia, n.d.). Lack of time or stressful living schedule may hinder there sleeping time. Others may have a disorder that causes them to have horrible sleep experiences and not being able to sleep.
Sleep is an important part of life, which has a broad effect on your quality of your life. If you are not able to get enough sleep some common effects are looking bad, feeling moody which might lead to fights or arguments with others, and performing poorly at school or just generally in life. An example could be while driving, if you’re sleepy you’re more prone to get into a crash, which of course isn’t good. Some other effects of lack of sleep are being more prone to injury, sickness, stress, acne and gaining weight. Furthermore, you might develop sleeping disorders, such as narcolepsy, insomnia or sleep apnea. Altogether, sleep is essential
This essay focuses on evaluating three functions of sleep. These functions include mental health (Jackowska et al, 2011), cardiovascular disease (Kronholm et al, 2011) and memory (Hu et al, 2006). The key aspects are explained in detail with regards to studies. The findings from the studies will help justify the function and it’s involvement with sleep. Sleep is important for an individual’s well being, survival, brain development, emotional regulation, cognitive function, memory, and in order to protect mental and cardiovascular health. An individual should sleep for 6-8 hours. A recent suggestion by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommended that an individual should sleep for minimum 7 hours. The quality of sleep is significant to maintain healthy brain functions. Evidence, indicating that good sleep quality is essential for mood and health then duration (Chandola et al, 2010). The researches implied will enable the understanding of the functions of sleep and evaluate the evidence of each of the functions, including advantages and limitations. Furthermore ethical issues are discussed, and an overall summary of the essay is briefed.
Success in life is typically measured by the result of what is accomplished during the waking hours. The degree of effectiveness of those hours however, depend on effective rest. “Sleep is integral to the health and well-being of all people” (Wells 233). Sleep is simply defined as the body’s rest cycle – a time to recharge. The widely accepted metric for normal or sufficient sleep is about 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. When this metric is not met, either through total sleep loss or accumulated sleep debt, the effect can be dire, “Sleep deprivation results in poor memorizing, schematic thinking, which yields wrong decisions, and emotional disturbances such as deteriorated interpersonal responses and increased aggressiveness” (Orzeł-Gryglewska 95). Sleep deprivation hinders the abilities of the mind, harms the body, and shortens length of life.
Lack of sleep has become a major problem in the United States since many people haven’t realized how healthy sleeping habits affect their health, life, study and work. When people have a sleep disorder or lack sleep for a long period, there will be a high possibility that they will have a health concern, including heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke. At the same time, lack of sleep would affect people’s brain in terms of processing information so that people cannot think, learn efficiently, or make a good decision. When people are feeling drowsy during their daily activities due to lack of sleep, their or other people’s lives can be threatened if they are driving or doing something that needs full attention to avoid an accident.
Sufficient sleep is a biological necessity for the normal functioning of humans, it allows the body to rest and to replenish itself so that it is able to serve its function of living. In addition, mental and physical health depend on the amount of sleep we get. Most adults and students value work and college much more than sleep, this is due to the academic, career, and materialistic demands. Researchers have noted a positive correlation between lack of sleep and decreased physical health, mental health, and academic performance. Sleep consists of two cycles: non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM), which are sleep patterns that alternate throughout the night. Firstly, sleep begins with non-REM sleep lasting about 90 minutes followed by REM sleep lasting 10-30 minutes, then the cycle repeats itself. REM sleep is the most important phase of sleep because the body is internally awake, with waking-like brain activity, yet asleep and externally calm. Thus, an uninterrupted REM phase of sleep is necessary for integrating previously learned material, and giving the individual a feeling of being well rested and refreshed. Many individuals will put sleep off so that more work hours, and school work can be fit into the day in order to get a better outcome such as job promotions or better academic grades, but I believe that sleep deprived people show a low performance in daily tasks due to suffering from mental, and physical health disorders.
Sleep effects every living organism on the world, whether it is positive or negative it has an impact on everyone. There are many different stages of sleep and each containing its own purpose. Sleep isn’t as simple and unnecessary as many believe it to be; sleep has the power to cause many different disorders and can even cause death if a person is deprived from sleep for too long. Sleep can also effect the brain and how the brain functions on a daily basis. Sleep is an important factor of life that should not be over looked. If enough sleep occurs there are many advantages that can make one’s life more healthy and beneficial.
Sleep is undoubtedly one of the most essential requirements for the human body to function properly. It plays a very important role in ensuring the wellness of the human body both physically as well as mentally. In fact, the importance of sleep is clear from the fact that it helps you in maintaining a good lifestyle throughout our entire lifetime. Not only does it help maintain our physical and mental health; rather it also helps in maintaining a decent and healthy lifestyle along with ensuring safety from a number of fatal diseases. It is usually said that the mood in which you wake up is largely dependent on the type of sleep you have been in. This in itself is a big proof of the importance of sleep in our lives. While sleeping, our body finally gets its share of rest and it also gets ample time in rejuvenating from all the wear and tear that it went through during the entire day. Not only this, the body is in its own working condition when we are sleeping as this is the time when it supports the healthy functioning of the brain as well as physical attributes of our body.
Even though the number of hours differs for different people, the mental and emotional affects damage all. Lack of sleep effects the brain’s
William C. Dement and Christopher Vaughan states that three hours must be added to the hours of sleep on a regular bases to feel alert throughout the day. The different five stages of sleep that a person goes to can also be affected deeply since sleep is a requirement, the body shuts down even if we do not want that. Sleep is a necessity just like food and water yet people still do not take the subject serious.Sleep hours can be diminished because of work, school, or other extra-curricular activities and many individuals find it difficult to get the necessary hours the body needs in order to function properly. The brain controls the body and if there's damage to the brain then all the other rest of the body suffers as well. Though the effect of sleep debt cannot be seen right away, it adds up until the body can't keep going with just hort limit of hours.The
We tend to think of sleep as a time when the mind and body shut down. But this is not the case; sleep is an active period in which a lot of important processing, restoration, and strengthening occurs. Exactly how this happens and why our bodies are programmed for such a long period of slumber is still somewhat of a mystery. But scientists do understand some of sleep's critical functions, and the reasons we need it for optimal health and wellbeing.
Sleep is a basic human need, it affects how we function on a daily basis and is essential for a person’s health and well being. Sleeping allows the body to recharge and affords the brain the opportunity to integrate important facts, memories and emotional impressions recorded from the previous day. There are five stages of sleep that people go through: Stages one, two, three, four, and Rapid Eye Movement (REM). Sleep is important for all human beings but the amount of sleep each person needs is dependent on many different factors, for example age. Infants generally need sixteen hours of sleep a day, teenagers need about nine hours, and for most adults, seven to eight hours a night is ideal. If people do not sleep enough for several nights they
Why is sleep so important to us? There have been studies done that suggest that sleep deprivation can be detrimental to or decrease the function of our immune systems. Just think, how often was it that after many days of continual sleep deprivation did you start to think that you had a cold? Sleep deprivation can also result in a decrease in core body temperature, decrease in the release of growth hormone, and possible cause an increase in heart rate variability. Sleep also seems to be important in order for our nervous system to work properly. Without sufficient amount of sleep, our behavior and our ability to do things are impaired. We feel drowsy and are unable to concentrate after not getting enough sleep. With enough sleep deprivation, it has been found that some begin to hallucinate and develop mood swings. Higher-ordered cognitive task become more difficult to do where it has been shown that tests that require speed and accuracy have lower results compared to those that are not sleep deprived. Judgment is also impaired; it has been tested that riskier behavior is more likely to occur when sleep deprived. (2).This is part of the reason why you should not drive when you are sleep deprived. Aside from the risk of falling asleep at the wheel, since judgment is