Sleep Deprivation Effects

Lack of sleep effects

What happens if you don’t sleep

The most common consequences of the lack of sleep include:

• Reduced alertness
• Poorer memory
• Cognitive impairment
• Slower thinking
• Reduced attention span
• Less physical strength

Now let’s look into more details and how much harm we can cause to ourselves depending on how much sleep we lose. 

Missing 1 hour of sleep or one shorter night

What happens if you sleep 1 hour less?

• If you miss 1 hour of sleep, the following day your body will produce less leptin (the fullness hormone), so you will eat more. At the same time your levels of ghrelin will increase, and that’s why you will feel more hungry. 

• Experiments also showed that we make poorer food choices after a night of shorter sleep and we are more likely to reach out for a doughnut or biscuit. On the other hand, when we get enough sleep we naturally make healthier food choices. 

• Our immunity is reduced to 70% after just one night of 4 – 5 hours of sleep and we also have lower levels of anti-cancer cells. 

• Men sleeping less than 5 hours have lower testosterone levels.

Missing 1 night of sleep

What happens when we miss one night of sleep?

One night without sleep has similar effects to having between 0.05 and 0.1% of alcohol in your blood. Simply put it’s like drunk driving! Other effects of losing one night’s sleep may include: 

• Compromised immunity and a higher likelihood to catch infections
• Drowsiness
• Impaired cognitive abilities 
• Headache 
• Higher cortisol levels
• Higher blood pressure
• Lower internal body temperature
• Eyes struggle to focus
• Poorer memory
• Possibility to trigger anxiety
• Looking older 

Missing 2 nights of sleep

What happens if we miss two nights of sleep?

Missing two nights of sleep you can experience due to sleep insufficiency:

• Poor movement coordination
• Lowered mood
• Poorer short memory 
• Much longer reaction times
• Poor concentration
• Learning abilities 
• Inflammation 
• Higher blood pressure
• In some cases hallucinations
• In extreme cases, death

Sleeping less than 7 hours per night

What happens if we sleep less than 7 hours per height?

If we sleep less than 7 hours per night long-term, we are more likely to gain weight Here is why:

Most sleep experts recommend 7 to 8 hours of sleep for most adults. But what happens if we don’t get 7 hours of sleep? If we sleep less than 7 hours per night, it causes an imbalance of our hormones. Getting enough sleep plays an especially important role in maintaining the right levels of our hunger and fullness hormones. Leptin – the hormone which sends a signal to the brain that we are full is at lower levels when we don’t get enough sleep. And the opposite happens with ghrelin – the hormone which tells are that we are hungry. While ghrelin is at higher levels, we feel more hungry and we eat more. 

Long-term sleep deprivation

What are the effects of long-term sleep deprivation?

First, let’s specify what is considered long-term insufficient sleep or sleep deprivation. 

What is sleep deprivation?

We consider long-term sleep deprivation as regularly having less than 6 hours of sleep per night. 

Long-term sleep restriction or sleep deprivation affects your performance and wellbeing. Your performance is affected because the prefrontal cortex is sensitive to sleep deprivation. 

Sleeping less than 6 hours per night long term can have a negative influence on your health. e.g. those who regularly sleep less than 6 hours are at a 4.5 times higher risk of stroke as compared to those who sleep 7 – 8 hours. 

The effects of sleep deprivation are similar to alcohol intoxication. 

Chronic sleep deprivation effects:

• Longer reaction times, e.g. while driving
• Poorer memory and ability to learn 
• Compromised immunity 
• Impaired fine motor skills
• Poor metabolism and a higher likelihood of gaining weight 
• Worse performance in cognitive abilities
• Decreased problem-solving abilities
• Worse performance in reasoning
• Reduced body’s ability to produce hormones
• Poorer judgment abilities
• Increased stroke risk 
• Increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease
• Brain damage (reduced brain ability to strengthen and build new synapses) 
• Increased sensitivity to pain
• Reduced direct and indirect emotional empathy
• Sleep-deprived kids and teenagers are more likely to be depressed 

Losing and gaining 1 hour of sleep when clocks change

Sleeping less while clocks go forward

Is the change of time detrimental to our health? It depends on whether we lose or gain 1 hour of sleep. Losing 1 hour of sleep when clocks change does have adverse effects on our health. The statistics show that the day following when clocks change and we sleep 1 hour less, the number of heart attacks goes up. On the other hand, when we sleep one hour longer when clocks go back, the opposite happens – hospital admissions drop. 

Other consequences of sleep deprivation

Apart from the above-mentioned effects, sleep-deprived people are more likely to misread social cues, e.g. to take a neutral interaction for a negative. They are also more likely to have negative feelings or get depressed after social interactions and in general have unhealthy mood tendencies. 

Check if you are sleep-deprived 

Are you wondering whether you’re getting enough sleep? If you want to find out if you are sleep deprived, you can take an online sleep deprivation test.