In this modern age, people are getting busier and busier as they have more responsibilities to fulfill and their lives are changing drastically. There seems to be more and more things to be done so that some people really tend to neglect their sleep. They prioritize their work or pleasure above their sleeping and a bad cycle begins which eventually runs out of control.



Here is a primary example of the problem. A person focuses on their work too much. They burn the midnight oil and even sleep in the office just out of convenience. The same thing goes with their enjoyment or leisure time. They develop an addiction to watching television or playing video games. They talk on the phone constantly and they never actually sit still and enjoy some peace and quiet. This can go on for weeks until that person gets tired, scolded by their boss or teacher for staying up too late or starts getting sleepy at the wrong times. This can lead to sleep deprivation if the right amount of sleep is never met. If something is not done and the problem gets worse, it could lead to even more adverse effects.

There are several effects of deprivation: from mild to severe. By examining these effects, you can determine if you are sleep deprived. One common and immediate effect of sleep deprivation is that you still feel sleepy after a normal night of sleep and you tend to need to go to bed earlier than usual in order to get back on track with your lost amount of sleep. This is only an initial condition but, if you don't get on track, it evolves into a bigger problem.

People who get behind can often prevent themselves from getting back to sleep by drinking too much coffee or staying awake too late in front of the TV. It is usually something in your surroundings that makes you stay awake too late. For example, one teenager recounted how she slept at three in the morning, woke up at seven, and when she wanted to sleep earlier to make up for the lost sleep, she failed to do so because there was a concert being held near her house! She could hear the band playing and could not sleep! Since she liked what they were playing, she just stayed up listening and then found herself sick the next night.

There is a common misconception that missing just one hour of sleep each night will not have any effect on the activities during the following day. This is far from being true. It is definitely not ok to continually sleep less each night for even just an hour. You will eventually develop "sleep debt" which is the buildup of much needed lost sleep. The sleep debt time will continue to accumulate and you will have to make up for it even if you are just lacking one hour of sleep per day. If the sleep debt is accumulated, you can develop a problem in your daytime performance, thinking, temperament or all of the above.

It is definitely true that sleep deprivation can affect your daytime performance or motor skills. You can get drowsy and you may not be able to concentrate when you lack sleep. Driving while tired in the United States results in a high prevalence of motor vehicle crashes. This comes to about 100,000 crashes per year according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration!

Driving at night or in the mid-afternoon is much riskier than in the morning because it is dark. This is because your biological clock, which controls the timing of sleep, will make you feel sleepier when it is dark rather than when it is light. Drowsiness makes your reaction time slower than usual and weakens your vigilance and ability to make good judgments. Decreased motor function will also affect your performance at work.

It is simply not a good thing to be deprived of sleep. You might experience a lot of bad consequences that you never thought of. In fact, we should balance our lifestyle with our sleeping so that work and pleasure have a reasonable amount of time rather than an overextended amount. Sleep is an important part of our daily routine and we should take the time to sleep so as to give our bodies what they so rightly deserve!