Sleep Deprivation

Sleep is as important to the human body as food and water, but most of us don't get enough sleep. Insufficient sleep or disruptions to the sleep-wake cycle (such as those that occur with shift work or travelling to a different time zone) cause the physiological state known as fatigue. A fatigued person is accident prone, judgement impaired and more likely to make mistakes and bad decisions. Staying awake for 24 hours leads to a reduced hand-to-eye coordination that is similar to having a blood alcohol content of 0.1. This is why sleep deprivation contributes to road accidents and work injuries. Lack of sleep can also affect a child's school performance, and could be linked to increased risk of emotional problems such as depression.

Symptoms of sleep deprivation in adults

Symptoms of sleep deprivation in adults include:

- Constant yawning

- The tendency to doze off when not active for a while; for example, when watching television

- Grogginess when waking in the morning

- Sleepy grogginess experienced all day long (sleep inertia)

- Poor concentration and mood changes (more irritable).

Causes of sleep deprivation

Common causes of sleep deprivation include:

Personal choice - some people don't realise that the body needs adequate sleep. Instead of regularly going to bed at a reasonable hour, they prefer to stay up late to socialise, watch television or read a good book.

Illness - illnesses such as colds and tonsillitis can cause snoring, gagging and frequent waking, and have a direct effect on sleep by fragmenting it.

Work - people who do shift work disrupt their sleep-wake cycles on a regular basis. Frequent travellers (for example, airline crew) tend to have erratic sleeping patterns.

Sleep disorder - problems such as sleep apnoea, snoring and periodic limb movement disorder can disturb the person's sleep many times during the night.

Medications - some drugs used to treat disorders such as epilepsy or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can cause insomnia.

The sleeping environment - sleep may be disrupted for a range of environmental reasons; for example, because the bedroom is too hot or cold, or because of noisy neighbours or a snoring bed partner.

Poor sleep hygiene - some people's habits are disruptive; for example, drinking coffee or smoking cigarettes close to bedtime stimulates the nervous system and makes sleep less likely. Another common problem is lying in bed and worrying, rather than relaxing.

Babies, older babies and toddlers - parents almost always experience sleep deprivation because their young children wake frequently in the night for feeding or comfort.

Lack of sleep impairs performance

Let's say that a person who needs eight hours of sleep per night only gets six. This two-hour sleep loss can have a major impact including:

- Reduced alertness

- Shortened attention span

- Slower than normal reaction time

- Poorer judgement

- Reduced awareness of the environment and situation

- Reduced decision-making skills

- Poorer memory

- Reduced concentration

- Increased likelihood of mentally 'stalling' or fixating on one thought

- Increased likelihood of moodiness and bad temper

- Reduced work efficiency

- Loss of motivation

- Errors of omission (making a mistake by forgetting to do something)

- Errors of commission (making a mistake by doing something, but choosing the wrong option)

- Micro sleep (brief periods of involuntary sleeping that range from a few seconds to a few minutes in duration).

Quote taken from The Newcastle Sleep Disorder Centre – Australia 2004