According to the National Sleep Foundation, millions of adults have a sleep disorder. One of the most common sleep disorders is sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation is a condition that occurs if an individual doesn’t get enough sleep. It can be caused by various factors, including medical conditions, medications, and external factors.
Certain medical conditions can cause sleep deprivation. For example, sleep apnea is a condition in which someone stops breathing for short periods while they are asleep. This can disrupt their sleep and cause them to wake up frequently throughout the night. Narcolepsy is another condition that can cause sleep deprivation. Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that affects the control of sleep and wakefulness. People with narcolepsy may have difficulty staying awake during the day and may suddenly fall asleep without warning.
Some medications trigger sleep deprivation. Stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine are well-known for causing insomnia. Other medications, such as beta blockers, antidepressants, and glucocorticoids, can cause insomnia. Environmental factors can also play a role in sleep deprivation. Noise pollution, light pollution, and temperature fluctuations can all impact our ability to get a good night’s rest.
Slowed Thinking
You’ve probably experienced it before. You’re trying to solve a problem at work or figure out the answer to a tricky question, and your mind won’t focus. You feel like you’re slogging through molasses, and no matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to get your brain in gear. One plausible reason is that you might be sleep-deprived.
Two main types of sleep are rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-REM sleep. During REM sleep, the brain is active, and people tend to dream. On the other hand, during non-REM sleep, the brain is relatively quiet, and people don’t dream. Most of us cycle through these two types of sleep multiple times throughout the night.
It’s believed that non-REM sleep plays an important role in consolidating memories, including processing and storing new information that an individual learns during the day. Without enough non-REM sleep, the brain has trouble retaining new information. This is why students who pull all-nighters before exams often find that they can’t remember what they studied the next day. Sleep deprivation also seems to interfere with executive function, which explains why people find it harder to stay on task when they lack sleep.
