Sleep deprivation: what can I do about it?

Adequate sleep is an absolute necessity for good health. During your sleep, your body rests. In addition, your body uses this time to recover. Not getting enough sleep? This can have annoying consequences. In this article, you will read more about sleep deprivation. It explains not only what sleep deprivation entails, but also the causes and consequences of a lack of sleep. Finally, we give you some tips to catch up on your sleep deficit.

Het Tuur®-team Written on 7 February 2022

What is sleep deprivation?

As the word suggests, with sleep deprivation you simply do not get enough sleep. The average person sleeps 6 to 8 hours per night. If you can't manage to get 6 hours of sleep one time, it's not that bad.

However, you can suffer from lack of sleep even after just one night. If you sleep less than 6 hours a night over a longer period, the consequences can be significant. You can also sleep a sufficient number of hours and still experience sleep deprivation. In this case, sleep deprivation is typically caused by poor sleep. The quantity of hours is present, but the quality of sleep is lacking.

Chronic sleep deprivation

Everyone has a night of reduced sleep now and then. Just because you sleep poorly once doesn't mean you have a chronic lack of sleep. It's only when your sleep deprivation continues for a longer period that there is a chronic sleep shortage.

In this case, you accumulate what is known as a sleep debt. Since you sleep poorly for several consecutive nights, the lack of sleep becomes larger. This makes it harder to recover from the sleep deprivation.

Causes of sleep deprivation

The most common cause of sleep deprivation is too little sleep. But why do you sleep too little? This can have various causes. Think about worrying, consuming caffeine, using medication, and certain eating habits. Consider sleep apnea and hormonal changes, for example, due to pregnancy. And do you suffer from pain complaints, such as muscle pain, joint pain, or back pain? Then sleeping is also more difficult, and you can also experience a shortage of sleep.

Sleep deprivation does not always occur due to too little sleep. If you regularly sleep poorly, it can also arise. In this case, you're not necessarily sleeping too little, but the quality of your sleep simply isn't sufficient. Often this depends on the depth of your sleep. Don't you have enough deep sleep? Then you have a worse night's rest.

Finally, a disrupted sleep pattern can also be a cause of insufficient sleep. For example, do you have irregular shifts or do you work night shifts? Then a sleep deprivation can also occur due to your disrupted sleep pattern.

Consequences of sleep deprivation

A lack of sleep can cause annoying problems. In the short term, you may experience feelings of drowsiness, irritability, poor concentration, and a tired appearance. Consider, for instance, pale skin and bags under the eyes. In the long term, the symptoms of insufficient sleep are even more troublesome. For example, prolonged lack of sleep can cause your blood pressure to rise. This can also lead to various complaints such as headaches, restlessness, nausea, and shortness of breath.

In addition, prolonged sleep deprivation can cause hallucinations. If you experience hallucinations, you see all sorts of things that aren't really there. This can greatly limit your daily activities and be very frightening. Furthermore, with chronic sleep deprivation, you have an increased risk of obesity, which brings various risks, including an increased chance of developing diabetes.

Finally, long-term sleep deprivation can even lead to depression. Not only physically, but also mentally, sleep deprivation has a significant impact on your body. Many people who sleep too little for an extended period feel gloomy. This can be temporary, but it can also lead to depression.

How to catch up on sleep deprivation?

To address your lack of sleep, you must first understand where it comes from. Are you sleeping poorly due to physical complaints? Then the solution to your sleep problem lies in addressing these complaints. Are you sleeping poorly because of a snoring partner? Then it's important to do something about it if you want to solve your sleep deficiency. Therefore, always try to identify the cause of your sleep problem first. This makes it easier to effectively solve the problem.

Sleeping in on the weekend? It might be very nice, but it's not so useful in solving your sleep deficit. Research by Alexandros Vgontzas, a sleep expert from Pennsylvania, shows that you cannot remedy a long-term sleep deficit by staying in bed longer over the weekend. He advises not to stay in bed longer, but to go to bed earlier. Deep sleep plays an important role in solving a sleep deficit. And you don't experience deep sleep at the end of the sleep process, but at the beginning.

If you go to bed early, deep sleep occurs sooner and lasts longer. Therefore, this will be very beneficial to you if you suffer from a sleep deficit. The expert also advises people with a long-term sleep deficiency to consistently go to bed earlier. Of course, you may also enjoy sleeping in once in a while on the weekend, but with an earlier bedtime, you really address your sleep deficiency well.