The Importance of Sleep and Lifetime

In order to live, the human body needs air to breathe, but sleep helps the body to function and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. In a lifetime humans spend about one-third of it sleeping. Being well rested can change how well the human body functions during the day. Sleep affects the brain and the ability to process memories, as well as determining physical and mental health. Sleep determines how successfully the human body functions throughout the day, although, many things can cause the body to have too much, or not nearly enough sleep.

Sleep helps the brain to recover from the previous day’s tasks, and sleep can determine physical and mental health. Sleeping becomes a crucial factor in order to be physically healthy. The human body suffers and feels fatigued easily when trying to perform daily activities without adequate sleep. While asleep, the brain works to store memories made throughout the day and prepares for the next. (“Why Is Sleep So Important”)When little or no sleep occurs, the ability to remember things fades, memory suffers. A good night's sleep can change how the body feels. Receiving little sleep can trigger emotions, creating the feeling of being irritated more frequently. A lack of sleep can cause irreversible brain damage and even weaken the immune system. (Person)

Sleep provides the body with the rest it needs to perform activities during the day, but entirely possible to have too much sleep. “Roughly 15% of people with depression sleep too much. This makes depression worse. That's because regular sleep habits are important to the recovery process.”(“Oversleeping Side Effects: Is Too Much Sleep Harmful” 2) There are many different types of sleeping disorders, each can happen from many different reasons. One sleeping disorder called narcolepsy, affect people’s wake and sleep cycles, therefore, make it harder for the brain to focus and for the body to perform at a higher level. Once diagnosed with narcolepsy, it will have a permanent impact on sleep. Narcolepsy does not have a cure or treatment but once diagnosed, symptoms should never worsen. Symptoms include EDS (Excessive Daytime Sleepiness), Cataplexy, sleep paralysis, hallucinations, fragmented sleep, insomnia, and automatic behaviors (sleep episodes). Not all of these symptoms will occur once diagnosed with narcolepsy. (National Institution of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

Sleep deprivation can affect the body tremendously. It has been proven that people who are sleep deprived drive worse than people who are under the influence. Mood changes can occur rather quickly when sleep deprived creating the feeling of being irritated and creating problems. “Sleep deprivation can noticeably affect people’s performances, including the ability to think clearly, react quickly, and form memories. Sleep deprivation also affects mood, leading to irritability; problems with relationships, especially for children and teenagers; and depression.” (U.S Department of Health and Human Services) Teenagers who do not sleep as much as they should often struggle with anxiety. Diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and high blood pressure are health risks associated with sleep deprivation. Being on a regular patterned sleep schedule helps to treat sleep deprivation by giving the body and the brain a routine rest. (U.S Department of Health and Human Services)

Sleep paralysis can come as a negative side effect from taking some medications or certain sleeping disorders. Sleep paralysis occurs when people are awake, but the brain still stays in the resting phase. This freezes muscles from moving to construct the feeling of being paralyzed. Sleep paralysis restricts movement and chest pains and the feeling of being choked occurs. Staying calm and not panicking help to prevent the feeling of being choked. Hallucinations can occur when experiencing sleep paralysis because the brain still thinks the body is at rest. This condition does not have any treatment available or anything to prevent it. Do not go to the doctor after one or two episodes, but see a sleep specialist if sleep paralysis becomes a very common routine when waking up. (Bradford)
Dreams can also affect the quality of sleep. Dreams happen 4-6 times a night and can trigger any emotion. Dreams can also last anywhere from 5-20 minutes. Although dreams can be nice, sometimes they can disturb sleep. Nightmares disrupt sleep and mess up the sleep cycle. When experiencing a nightmare, frightening thoughts and images are common. After waking up from a nightmare, it can be hard to fall asleep again. (Nichols)

Numerous things affect the quality of sleep. To be properly rested, the human body needs around 7-9 hours of sleep. (“Oversleeping Side Effects: Is Too Much Sleep Harmful?” 3) Creating a sleep schedule helps to prevent disorders and improves health. Sleep has an important impact in every humans life. Without sleep, the body will not perform properly, which, in turn, could causes many problems.

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