…and what to do to prevent them.
In a parallel universe, a Well-Rested version of yourself is Healthier & Happier…
…because that version of you committed to SLEEP.
We all know what happens when we’re up all night tossing and turning, stressing over things to come—the next day we feel groggy, cranky, and wishing we could roll over and go back to sleep. That said, missing out on the recommended 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night does more than just make you grumpy. In fact, the long-term effects of sleep deprivation are real, and quite frankly, really alarming.
Sleepless nights negatively affect you mentally and physically. As a matter of fact, science has linked poor slumber with a number of health problems, from weight gain, debilitating anxiety, to a poor immune system. But that’s not all, your sleep deprivation has the potential to affect others, and I’m not just talking about a bad day.
Here are 7 surprising consequences of sleep deprivation. Warning: You don’t want to take them lightly:
Yes, you heard that right. Sleep deprivation kills sex drive. Obviously there is a huge connection between sleep and sex and it goes much deeper than the fact that both are usually done in the bedroom. More often than not, a healthy sex life will lead to better sleep health and vice-versa. If sex or sleep is suffering, chances are that one can be improved by improving the other.
Here’s the thing, when the body becomes stressed because of sleep difficulties, the brain suppresses the production of sex hormones—you know the ones, they start with an E and a T—in favour of stress hormones. This shift in hormone levels affects not only the sex drive, but fertility as well. Plus, lack of sleep has been known to cause erectile dysfunction.
But of course, it may not be a biological matter. Obviously, when one is too tired, it’s very rare they’re up to getting it on. Not to mention that, being too tired for sex is the leading reason reported by individuals or couples who have lost interest in sex. And what a shame that is.
Thus, finding a way to get to sleep fast, sleep longer, and wake up more refreshed, ready to…take on the world—what’d you think I was going to say? No, you’re right.
Sleep needs to be a priority, especially if we want to have a bit more fun in the bedroom—if you know what I mean.
Oh, you betcha. It’s a known fact that lack of sleep destroys any progress you made in the gym.
In fact, a major review found that poor sleep increased the likelihood of obesity by 89% in children and 55% in adults.
Not only that, lack of sleep makes you crave food. There is a hormone in your brain, that when you sleep, releases hunger suppression signals, making you feel full and satisfied. But as soon as you cut that sleep short, as if to punish you, the brain does the exact opposite, sending signals to the hunger hormone, making you not only crave food, but all that junk that isn’t good for you.
And that’s not all, due to lack of sleep, the brain takes it a step further to punish you, making you unable to control your portion sizes. It plays a trick on you, making you think you need more than what your body needs. This is because the brain is overcompensating for the lack of battery charge you gave it the night before.
Sleep is crucial to keeping your body at an ideal weight because without it, your brain becomes your enemy. So if you haven’t already, start thinking about ways to get to sleep faster, sleep longer, and wake up refreshed and perhaps you’ll find that your waistline has shrunken a little by little.
No, really; I’m not joking. Did you know that in 2017 a report found 394 deaths a year in Australia were caused by motor vehicle or workplace injuries linked with inadequate sleep? Messed up, right? But that’s just referring to the lack of judgment one has when it comes to lack of sleep. If the potential to kill others through mistakes from lack of sleep don’t frighten you, how about the ways sleep deprivation affects you internally?
Basically, chronic lack of sleep affects our biology in other ways that might ultimately lead to our death. In fact, in 2016-2017, the Sleep Health Foundation determined that lack of sleep accrued 3,017 deaths through the following:
1,323 deaths from heart disease because of lack of sleep! That’s actually the leading cause of death in the United States in both men and women. When you consider that many Americans suffer from sleep deprivation, I suppose the fact that many die from heart disease isn’t all that surprising.
Thinking about finding a way to get to sleep faster, sleep longer, and wake up refreshed in the morning? I know I sure am.
Yup. A recent study suggests that even one night of sleep deprivation causes cells to age faster than usual in older adults and in the end. I mean, drinking water, wearing sunscreen, and getting a facial every now and then can only take your outward appearance so far. In fact, a recent study found that the skin’s ability to perform at its best was undermined with poor quality of sleep. It’s impressive that those who slept well were able to recover more efficiently from skin stressors like inflammation, redness, moisture loss, elasticity loss, and the ability to repair minor damage that may incur from sun exposure.
Essentially, a lack of quality of sleep weakens the skin’s ability to repair itself at night. Including the stressors, and your skin’s inability to to recover from them because you are not getting enough sleep, can all cause you to look older than you really are.
As it turns out, getting the right amount of sleep is more than just skin deep. With more consistent sleep at the recommended number of hours, sleep can help you look and feel younger. Plus, sleep provides your brain with the opportunity to renew itself and perform at its best. Which means finding a way to get to sleep faster, sleep longer, and wake up refreshed in the morning should be priority number one.
You must have seen this one coming. If sleep deprivation destroys sex drive, than it’s not far off to say that it ruins relationships. This is because sleep deprivation affects your mood, making you more irritable, angry, frustrated, and sad. Essentially, sleeplessness is a huge culprit in mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety. As such, without sleep, your emotions are thrown way out of whack and when that happens the part of your brain that ties emotions to memories doesn’t function properly, which can lead you to overreact or not notice someone else’s emotions.
When we lack sleep we have a very short fuse. This causes us to overreact to situations that normally wouldn’t bother us, which can make us very frustrating to be around. So the next time you find yourself easily rattled, think about how you’ve slept for the past few nights.
The simple realization may be that you’re missing out on precious sleep and need to find a way to get to sleep faster, sleep longer, and wake up refreshed in the morning, otherwise you might find yourself in more and unnecessary arguments with your significant other. And no one wants that.
I mean, I suppose this one is pretty obvious. If you’re too tired to do anything, obviously your productivity slips. But here’s the catch, when your productivity suffers, so does your performance. When you can’t focus on the task at hand, the quality of your work takes a hit, and sometimes, if not always, your boss, or your clients, are going to start to take notice. Then what happens? A write up at least, at worst you could be let go. And no one wants to lose their job due to lack of sleep.
Plus, sleeplessness causes you to become sick more often, right? And then you have to call out more frequently, and then guess what? You’re in the same predicament as being at work, but performing poorly because in this case you aren’t performing at all. So what’s the answer?
Get more sleep of course. So if I were you—yes, you know what’s coming—I’d start thinking about ways to help you get to sleep faster, sleep longer, and wake up refreshed in the morning.
(Stay productive – Do these 4 things to wake up every morning with energy)
Last but not least, sleepless nights impairs judgement. In fact, research has shown that bad sleep can influence your decision making. A study published in the journal SLEEP found that sleep deprivation impairs one’s ability to to integrate emotion and cognition to guide moral judgements. Yup, lack of sleep makes you a bad person.
The study concluded that sleep deprivation resulted in significantly slower deliberations about moral personal dilemmas relative to other dilemmas; essentially, people who are sleep deprived make decisions they wouldn’t normally make when fully rested.
In fact, in recent history, there have been numerous earth-shattering accidents caused by sleep-deprived operators making human errors: the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the grounding of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker, and the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle were all partially caused by excessive sleep deprivation, which led to faulty decision making.
Don’t be the one to make the next world-tragedy because sleep wasn’t made a priority.
Make finding a way to get to sleep faster, sleep longer, and wake up refreshed the next morning a priority because it might be a matter of life and death.
Tell you what. To help get you started, you might want to think about a weighted blanket. I heard it provides the user with a number of amazing benefits; one of them being improved sleep.
(Do these 4 things to maintain alertness throughout your day)
It’s true. You can trace most of life’s struggles to a lack of sleep. The problem is most people don’t realize that chronic fatigue progresses into more complex (sometimes life-threatening) issues.
So we are asking you to reflect on how your lifestyle has been producing a very tired version of yourself. We’re confident you’ll eventually realize that committing to improving your sleep habits is the best path to improve the quality of your life.
So here are the 4 Sleepbo Sleep Steps you will need to take:
This is a no-brainer of epic proportions, while also being an urgently High Priority! Here’s why:
* Immediate Benefits – you’ll sleep better the first night
* Sleep isn’t only benefit. Instant relaxation while on couch/desk (invaluable for stress/anxiety management WHICH ALSO improves sleep)
* Extremely Cheap – pennies per sleep over lifetime of the blanket. The benefits will pay for the blanket thousands of times over. Plus the Best brands have money back guarantee if you aren’t happy with your purchase
* Alcohol – disrupts the sleep cycle and all the complex biological processes that occur during sleep
* Screen Time – the artificial light emitted interferes with melatonin production , which disrupts the body’s internal clock. Screen content may be too stimulating & may inhibit your brains ability to unwind into slumber.
This may be expensive & an eternal work-in-progress (due to experimenting with products/methods that work for you
* Sleep in Cold Temperature – (15-19 Celsius) the mechanism by which the body “warms itself in a cold environment” is extremely calming & promotes sleep.
* Use Blackout Curtains – blocking out external light aids the body’s internal clock into maintaining its schedule
* Mattress/Pillows – invest in top quality products no matter the cost. It pays off in the long run
* Sound Proof your room if noise is an issue
Rewarding but requires extreme discipline. Impossible for many due to busy lifestyle.
* Minimum 7 Hours Sleep
* Have a consistent Sleep-Time & Wake-Time
* Use calming rituals like deep-breathing or meditation
How could sleeping with a heavy blanket improve my sleep and give me all those health benefits?
Basically, it comes down to the science of Deep Pressure Touch, where gentle pressure is applied to the body in order to increase the feel-good chemical in our bodies. There’s even research behind it: A study found that deep pressure touch helped college students with anxiety reach a higher degree of subjective relaxation and suggested this method might be beneficial for calming autistic children.
Many people have claimed it’s helped them break the insomnia cycle. After a few nights of using a weighted blanket, many state that the pressure touch gave them a comforting feeling and it gave them something else to focus on rather than their racing thoughts. For many, the benefits are too good to pass up.
There’s nothing stopping you from giving a weighted blanket a try. In fact, most brands give people a satisfaction guarantee and a full refund if the blanket doesn’t meet their needs.
So don’t wait! Try a weighted blanket today. I’m sure you won’t regret it.