Today is World Sleep Day! And as someone with a 5 month old daughter who has begun teething, I thought it would be a great idea to touch on the importance of sleep.
Sleep deprivation can have some pretty devastating effects on an individual. Some symptoms may include:
- Lack of concentration
- Becoming more irratable
- Difficulty staying awake when not active
- Difficulty getting up in the morning.
- Lack of motivation
- Shorter attention span
- Poor memory
- Poor work efficiency
Lack of sleep for 24 hours can actually reduce your hand-eye coordination to a point that is similar to having a blood alcohol content of 0.1. This could be lethal when you consider operating a vehicle or heavy machinery.
The Sleep Health Foundation recommends 7 to 9 hours of sleep for Adults in order to combat these symptoms but as most of us know, there can be a range of reasons for not getting a solid night of sleep. Sleep disorders such as Insomnia and Sleep Apnea seem to be the obvious ones at first, however it could be as simple as your daily lifestyle.
- Shift work or other erratic work hours can disrupt your sleep cycle. Try to keep a routine if possible.
- Your sleep environment should be a comfortable one. Make your room as noise free and temperature controlled as possible.
- Coffee and cigarettes are stimulants and make sleep difficult. Avoid these before trying to sleep.
If you’re having difficulty keeping a routine or for any other reasons are not able to sleep, please check out some resources from Better Health Victoria and Sleep Health Foundation. It may be worth seeing your GP if problems persist.
Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay, accessed 19/03/2021
