Sleep is an essential aspect of life that most people tend to ignore. Sleep deprivation leads to various health implications. Most people experience inadequate sleep because of dedicating much of their time to their activities, leaving little time to rest. Adults are expected to sleep for at least 8 hours a night to ensure that the body gets enough rejuvenation.
Being a student and a part time employee, sleeping becomes a lowly ranked priority. The fact that work requires devoting more time so that the demands of the employer are met, time for completing assignments and projects is limited to late night. The increasing social events, watching movies, and networking in the evenings and weekends consume much of the relaxation time. Any cropping activity will always consume sleep time because it gets no time allocation during the day (CIBA Foundation Symposium, 2009). Normally, deadlines find their way through much of night hours, meaning individuals will have little or no sleep. Fundamentally, during examination period, students find themselves revising through the night because they were not well prepared for their tests. This common aspect leads to sleep deprivation.
Lack of sleep has several implications on the physical, social, and mental aspects of life. Often, people who do not get enough sleep are unable to attain full concentration when studying or while at work. Students who do not get enough sleep at night tend to doze off during class lessons. This means that they will not grasp what their tutors are teaching and may end up underperforming. Passiveness at work is inevitable because individuals will be unable to carry out their duties actively (Mattice, Brooks & Lee-Chiong, 2012). Inadequate sleep leads to fatigue and instances of extreme tiredness. Obviously, when an individual feels tired, he or she will not operate normally. Further, people deprived off their sleep may not be in a position to make critical analysis and sound judgments. As a consequence, the handling an exam becomes difficult since the thinking capacity goes down.
An additional consequence of sleep deprivation is unhealthy physical appearance. During sleep, the body cells regenerate through a series of body processes, which allow humans to lead a healthy life. However, little sleep means poor regeneration of cells and inadequate body processes, leading to unhealthy physical appearance (Mattice, Brooks & Lee-Chiong, 2012). Stress is also another consequence of little sleep. When an individual is under medication, he or she is supposed to get enough sleep because if not to rest or sleep adequately, drugs may not function properly. People who use drugs and alcohol should get enough sleep. Alcoholic substances contain chemicals that cause dehydration; enough sleep would allow the body rehydrate and regain its natural feeling.
Several strategies exist that enable individuals to acquire enough sleep. Proper time management is vital because it will allow allocation of enough time for sleep. It means that any job spill over is scheduled for the next day. Doing away with vigorous activities that cause unnecessary strain to the body is critical since it enables people sleep comfortably. Alcoholic products cause insomnia, and so, they should be avoided. Enough exercises are also significant to attain enough sleep (Mattice, Brooks & Lee-Chiong, 2012). Proper diet is advised so that foods with too much fat do not form much of the meal. Drinking enough would aid hydration; thus, one will feel comfortly during sleep time. The kind of environment also influences sleeping patterns. It is critical to sleep in a quiet environment; otherwise, individuals might not be able to get enough rest.
References
CIBA Foundation Symposium. (2009). The Nature of Sleep. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons
Mattice, C., Brooks, R., & Lee-Chiong, T. L. (2012). Fundamentals of sleep technology. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
