It's going to take more than a cup of coffee.
While sleep deprivation studies have existed, The emerging fields of sleep loss and and bedtime procrastination are yielding studies with severe and frightening news.
Read some of the quotes and articles below to get a sense of how dire the health impacts truly are. Additional resources on the problematic new sleep trend, bedtime procrastination, are also noted below.
When you are recommitted to improving your sleep hygiene, click the links in the navigation bar to find out what you can do to reclaim your health and sanity.
Note: The table presented below could have been bullets with hyperlinks. However, one purpose of creating this page was to get practice using tables in HTML. Thus, the unusual format choice was intentional.
| Health Risks |
Source |
| "...research shows that [electronic blue light] may contribute to the causation of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity." |
http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side |
| "Sleep loss causes the body to release too little human growth hormone...As we age [human growth hormone] helps increase muscle mass and strengthen bones." |
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/10-results-sleep-loss |
| Weight Risks |
Source |
| "people who sleep less than six hours a day were almost 30 percent more likely to become obese than those who slept seven to nine hours" |
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/10-results-sleep-loss |
| “You are eating more, plus your metabolism is slower when you are sleep-deprived, |
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/lack-of-sleep-weight-gain |
| Intellect Risks |
Source |
| "[Lack of sleep] impairs attention, alertness, concentration, reasoning, and problem solving. " |
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/10-results-sleep-loss |
| "The decline in performance [after sleep deprivation] can be measured through behavioral tests and advanced imaging systems can even show lower levels of blood-bourne oxygen being delivered to important areas in the brains of those deprived of sleep for 24 hours." |
http://www.sleepdex.org/deficit.htm |
| Creativity Risks |
Source |
| Creativity and problem solving improves with better sleep. The perception that great minds have erratic sleep schedules is not scientifically supported. |
http://www.sleepdex.org/creativity.htm |
| Great thinkers (writers, musicians, scientists, philosophers and others) were getting good sleep. |
http://www.fastcodesign.com/3031754/infographic-of-the-day/the-sleep-schedules-of-27-of-historys-greatest-minds |
| Emotional Health Risks |
Source |
| "Lack of sleep has also been linked with mood problems, anxiety and depression, and increased risk of accidents. |
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/does-blue-light-ruin-sleep-we-ask-an-expert/ |
| "you might find it hard to judge other people's emotions and reactions. Sleep deficiency also can make you feel frustrated, cranky, or worried in social situations." |
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sdd |
Are you a bedtime procrastinator?
According to researchers Kroese, DeRiddler, Evers, Adriaanse, (2014) you might be, "Bedtime procrastination is defined as failing to go to bed at the intended time, while no external circumstances prevent a person from doing so.”
Reference
Kroese, F.M., DeRiddler, D.T.D., Evers, C., & Adriaanse, M.A. (2014). Bedtime procrastination: Introducing a new area of procrastination. Frontiers in Psychology, 5(611). doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00611
Read on to learn more about the problem of bedtime procrastination.
Not all sleep problems can be solved by ourselves. Check out sleep.org's Should I Visit a Sleep Clinic for advice. Otherwise, click on those Sleep Hygiene links and start getting better sleep!
