Sleep deprivation is exactly what it sound like: you are deprived of sleep. If you have experienced sleep deprivation, you know how brutal it can be. Chronic sleep deprivation is when you are deprived for long periods of time – at least a month or more. This differs from acute sleep deprivation, that is short lived and often has a very specific cause. Chronic sleep deprivation will most certainly make life miserable for you, and can negatively impact those around you as well.
Pain is all too common in our world today, and it greatly impacts our quality and quantity of sleep. Chronic pain can really hinder your ability to get a good night’s sleep, which makes it harder to heal, and creates all sorts of complications. Here is a quick overview of how muscles and pain interact with sleep, and some tips for how to improve your sleep, even in the presence of pain.
Sleep quality is impacted by many contributing factors. Sleep position, cortisol levels, dietary considerations, light exposure, and many more factors all play a role in sleeping. Many of us are looking for ways to improve our sleep quality, because of the myriad of benefits that high-quality sleep provides:
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleeping disorder and medical condition that causes you to repeatedly stop breathing and then rouse yourself throughout the night. OSA happens when the throat muscles in the back of your throat relax, causing the airway to narrow and your tongue to block to the back of your mouth. This instigates snoring and a closed airway. Because you have to wake up each time this happens, OSA prevents you from getting restful sleep, resulting in chronic (and potentially severe) sleep deprivation.
What are Parasomnias? Parasomnias are not a single sleep disorder, but refer to a collection of sleep disorders that disrupt your circadian rhythm and impact sleep quality. You may or may not be aware that you have a parasomnia sleep disorder, such as those listed below.
Insomnia is being unable to fall asleep, stay asleep for any restful of time, or sleep in until the morning (i.e., waking up wide awake at 3am). Insomnia is frustrating, because you want to sleep, you just can’t. As you get more sleep deprived over time from insomnia, this disconnect between wanting to sleep and actually sleeping can become extremely pronounced. Unfortunately, insomnia can have consequences far more severe than just frustration.
Sleep paralysis is an episode where you can’t move your body or speak directly after or directly before sleep, and while you are conscious. It is part of a collection of sleep disorders called parasomnias, which simply indicates that your sleep has some kind of general disruption. In the case of sleep paralysis, your body has trouble transitioning to and from sleep.
Sleep paralysis is being unable to move or speak during the transition between wakefulness and sleep. Sleep paralysis occurs either right after you wake up, or right before you fall asleep. It is result of your body not smoothly transitioning between stages of wakefulness and sleep. And it can be mildly disconcerting to terrifying, especially if you are unaware what sleep paralysis is.
Does your bed partner tell you that you whisper, laugh, mumble, or even outright talk in your sleep? Or does your child shout or give long, incomprehensible speeches? It’s called sleep talking, or somniloquy, and you’ve likely heard of it, and may have experienced it yourself or seen it.
Excessive daytime sleepiness is a hallmark sign of sleep deprivation. As adults, we should be getting at least 7 hours of sleep every day. When you don’t get enough sleep, you become sleep deprived.