Marco DiMieri (FGCU): Sleep Deprivation

According to the National Sleep Foundation:

40% of adults are sleepy to the point that their daily activities are being negatively affected.

50% of U.S. adults get less than 7 hours of sleep per night on average, which is substantially less than the recommended 8 hours.

60% of U.S. adults drive while drowsy.

Sleep deprivation is an often overlooked social problem today.  It is defined as the lack of the necessary amount of sleep that a person needs to optimally function. The effects on the body and mind are substantial and unfortunately are often ignored. Sleeping is seen by many people as something that does not involve a proper routine. It is often done in the style of collapsing on your bed when you are absolutely exhausted. The effects that sleep deprivation has on the mind are very serious and unfortunately it is often ignored.

Irritability, delayed reaction time, learning deficiencies, memory lapses, reasoning and calculation errors are the most common effects.  But injury and death are also potential side effects.  It is estimated that up to 60% of all car accidents today involve sleep deprivation and according to the National Highway Safety Administration there are 1,500 deaths in the
U.S. per year related to sleep deprivation.  Think about that. Something as simple as going to bed a couple hours early can save your life or another person’s life.

And the British Journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine reported that sleep deprivation to the point of drowsiness can have the same effect as being drunk. DRUNK.  They did study cases and it was shown that people who had less than the recommended 8 hours of sleep on average actually performed worse in driving than those with a blood alcohol level of .05

But why do people continually deprive themselves of sleep? The biggest reason is because they do not even realize it.  There is no fever or a rash that tells you that you are not getting a proper amount of sleep.  And the use of coffee and energy drinks to stay awake and energized only perpetuate the problem because people think that once they use these types of products they’ll be fine.  But there is simply no substitute for a good nights sleep.  No amount of caffeine can replace lost hours of sleep.

Get on a schedule and go to bed.

This entry was posted on 20. April 2009 at 00:06 and is filed under Social Problems. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.