psy/240 sleep deprivation

Sleep deprivation is a condition where your body is not getting a sufficient amount of sleep. We as humans have developed tremendously in our evolution and in this day and age it seems almost as if everyday we have more to do and less time to do it in. We begin to spend more time awake trying to accomplish more and end up giving ourselves less time to sleep. Sleep deprivation is easy to catch especially for those who constantly have so much on their plates. There was a point in my life where I was working 2 jobs and going to school full time and I developed sleep deprivation. It was very hard but after some treatment I was able to get back to a normal sleeping pattern and back to letting my body get the rest it needed. To begin with, my husband was at boot camp for the United States Marine Corps, and I was home alone with my wiener dog for three months. Not much had changed in my routine except that I was alone and I had a little bit of extra work to do. I was working two jobs throughout the week and going to school on 3 days out of that week. My routine consisted of waking up, eating breakfast, and going to school then work, and then work again. I would get home at about 10pm every night and walk my dog and I usually had some homework to do. By the time I was showered, and got ready for bed it would usually be about midnight and by the time I would lay my head on the pillow I would not be able to fall asleep. It would take me anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half before I was able to fall asleep. Then, my routine would start over at 6 am. My body was previously used to getting 8-10 hours of sleep so now with the 5-6 hours I was very deprived. I was exhausted. Later, after the first month or so of realizing my body was not functioning correctly, I started to have mood swings, and both my cognitive and motor skills were effected negatively. I would wake up in a bad mood every day and by the time I would get to my first job I was exhausted. My body wanted to cry, and it did during random times throughout the day, I would just lose it and cry. It was not until my cognitive skills started lacking tremendously that I realized I couldn’t do it any more. I would go to school but I would not learn I would hear but I could not listen. It became so hard to bring in any new information in to my brain. I even realized my motor skills were lacking as well. I did not have as fast reaction times as I normally would, and I would read, write, and in general work a lot slower. Finally, I decided to quit one of my jobs. It was not easy on me (or my dog) to do all this work and not even have any help. I had to cook dinner for myself every night, no help from my husband. After finally quitting one of my jobs, things got so much better. I was home by 8 the latest every night. I was now getting about 8-10 hours of sleep again and my body thanked me. I no longer had mood swings; my skills were back to normal, better reaction times, and I was actually learning and remembering what was being taught in school. I unfortunately suffer from adult ADD and having this disorder I cannot afford to be sleep deprived because it increases my ADD symptoms tremendously, I do not take medicine, but there are some medications that can help with sleep deprivation along with ADD as well. Sleep deprivation can be easily cured, but if not done so soon enough it may lead to chronic sleep deprivation and other health effects. The short-term effects you may experience are decreased performance, memory and cognitive impairment, and quality of life, to name a few. Some of the long-term effects you might experience as a result of sleep deprivation include obesity, heart failure, mental impairment, and ADD. Get proper sleep is a must, and it can be very harmful if you do not. Some common sleep disorders are sleep apnea and narcolepsy. Once diagnosed, these sleep disorders can be treated with CPAP which is a continuous positive airway pressure device that helps you breathe, or stimulants such as Ritalin that will help your performance throughout the day, and even sleeping pills to see if they help you sleep at night. In conclusion, anyone can suffer from sleep deprivation, but anyone can overcome it as well. It is important to get a sufficient amount of sleep so your body can function at its full capacity. If you feel you might have a sleep disorder it is best to get diagnosed by a doctor so they can give you the proper treatment for your problem, or disorder.

References Pinel, J. P. J. (2011). Biopsychology (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.