If you have ever had to pull an all-nighter for an exam or project, and have felt hungover the morning after, you are not imagining things: your brain is actually functioning at the same level as a drunkard. According to recent studies, our modern lifestyle goes hand in hand with chronic sleep deprivation, which directly affects our health.
We are constantly told that we need to eat well and exercise regularly, but rarely are we told to guard our sleep hours jealously. There is the concept of beauty sleep, but between work schedules, pets, small children, and a mountain of chores, it seems we have given up on maintaining a schedule that allows us to sleep eight uninterrupted hours.
However, chronic sleep deprivation—scientifically defined as consistently sleeping less than the recommended seven or eight hours—produces more than just temporary fatigue: it becomes a direct risk factor that fuels a destructive cycle of quite serious cognitive, emotional, and physical illnesses.
4 gin and tonics vs. 4 hours of sleep
Although comparing sleep deprivation to drunkenness is nothing new, it is a scientific tool used to accurately measure a person’s performance impairment. As early as 2000, pioneering studies by Williamson and Feyer demonstrated this equivalence. So much so that many international traffic agencies warn drivers of the dangers of being exhausted behind the wheel.
Scientific findings from 25 years ago already showed that staying awake for 17 to 19 consecutive hours causes a serious deficit in abilities. In other words, if a person has slept only 45 hours and spends the day active without trying to take a power nap, they will experience cognitive and motor impairment identical to that observed in people with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05%. This figure, 0.05%, is the legal limit for driving in many countries and the point at which the risk of an accident increases significantly.
At this level of impairment, attention is scattered, response speed decreases by up to 50%, and judgment and decision-making abilities are compromised. If you are behind the wheel and encounter, for example, a deer in the middle of the road, your response and reaction to this danger will be very different, slow, and perhaps too late, compared to if you were not suffering from fatigue due to lack of sleep (or had not had a few too many drinks).
That is why operating machinery, making critical decisions, or even driving with a hangover due to lack of sleep is equivalent to doing so under the effects of actual alcohol intoxication. That is why medications that cause drowsiness warn that driving any type of machinery should be avoided while using this treatment.
Nighttime repair
Sleep not only allows us to disconnect, but it is also a real state of bodily repair. While we sleep, three types of repair essential to maintaining our daily balance take place: physical repair, which occurs during the deep stages of sleep (NREM); cognitive preparation, which consolidates long-term memory; and emotional preparation, which occurs during REM sleep. This last phase is crucial for regulating our mood and processing intense or traumatic emotional experiences.
This is why after a day in which you have had a traumatic experience—such as the loss of a family member—after a yoga session to unwind and sleep, everything seems a little more bearable the next morning after a long night’s rest.
Sleep debt accumulates over time and eventually crystallizes into palpable chronic risks. First of all, our cardiovascular health suffers, as our blood pressure rises. Metabolic risk also appears, as we need adequate sleep to regulate ghrelin (the “hunger hormone”) and leptin (the “satiety hormone”). An imbalance in these hormones can lead to excessive food consumption, which can result in obesity and type 2 diabetes.
How to make sure you sleep well
For now, the only things sleep experts advise are the following:
- Keep a consistent schedule; don’t go to bed early one day only to stay up late on the following night. Yes, go to sleep at the same time everyday…even on weekends!
- Avoid caffeine in all forms in the afternoon. We don’t care you are obssessed with coffee and energy drinks, they are not good for you in the long run–just like that toxic situationship you keep texting to.
- Have a light dinner a couple of hours before hitting the bed. Digestion keeps you from entering the deep sleep phase.
- Quit all forms of screens at least an hour before finally going to sleep. Apps and websites are created to keep you hooked, so it will be difficult to fall asleep if you are constantly refreshing your X feed. Forget about your phone and actually pick up a book from that pile that has been gathering dust for weeks now!