Insomnia Impacts Overall Health

If you are having trouble sleeping, then you should immediately check if it is already a bad case of insomnia. Insomnia does not only make us weak but also negatively affects our overall health and well being.

What happens during our sleep?

To understand insomnia’s dangerous effects on us and those around us, we must first know why sleep is important. While we are sleeping, the tissues in our body are repaired and we are somewhat rejuvenated. For the brain to be effective in receiving, processing, and sending data to different parts of our body, the average person must sleep for about 8 hours each night.

Our sleep has four parts, which include rapid eye movement sleep wherein the processes in the brain are active. In the 3rd and 4th stages, the processes in our body are completed. This shows that a huge lack in sleep will greatly diminish both our physical and psychological states.

Effects of Insomnia

1. Physical

Your body mass index will likely go up if you lack the proper sleep. Those who sleep for less than seven hours are commonly at high risk for obesity. It causes one’s appetite to rise because of hormonal changes, such as an increase in ghrelin production.

Losing sleep impairs your motor functions and coordination, including response time. This lowers ones ability to react in certain situations particularly when driving. There is a big possibility that the sleep-deprived will not slam on the breaks as needed to avoid collision or will simply drift off and lose control. It is proven through research that more than half of traffic accidents are rooted on a sleep-deprived person who is driving.

You will also have reduced endurance and cardiovascular performance. Lack of sleep raises levels of fatigue and results in clumsiness, involuntary tremors, and even hastens aging. Everyday tasks would become hard to execute and would seem difficult and complicated.

2. Psychological

Sleep deprivation damages your memory. It is more likely for you to remember information if you sleep after acquiring it. For example, the more quickly you sleep after learning something, the higher chances that your memory will retain it.

It also leads to impaired cognitive development and IQ in children and even adults. As stated, sleep repairs and rejuvenates tissues. The tissues and cells in our brain need a lot of taking care of because they are the most ones used during the whole day. You use them every minute and every second of the day ñ when you wake up, watch TV, read a book, walk around, and everything else.

Getting a good night’s sleep develops your brain and helps you relate well with others. It could also end in a change in personality. Even the kindest and most patient people become prone to outbursts, get easily annoyed, and experience mood swings.

3. External

Of course, relations with the ones around you will also suffer. Insomnia causes people to lose control of their moods. They usually find that keeping up relationships is not as significant as it should be or is too difficult to handle. To avoid this, try to keep the important people in your life informed about your trouble with sleeping. Better yet, look for the right medical intervention for insomnia.