Binge sleeping – the thing many of us do when we are suffering from sleep deprivation and want to quickly feel normal again. A common scenario that illustrates this: all week you stay up late on your computer, and then get up at normal time to go to work – maybe getting only 6 hours of sleep. Then on the weekend you sleep in an extra few hours each day, maybe even taking naps. This is the essence of binge sleeping – but it doesn’t work.
Your circadian rhythm is your innate biological clock that helps your body function in patterns and rhythms. It regulates your natural sleep schedule, and is closely tied to both melatonin, the sleep hormone, and changes in light.
Shift work sleeping disorder is a circadian rhythm disorder that causes sleep deprivation as a result of doing shift work. Not everyone who works outside of the typical M-F, 9-5 shift develops this disorder, but sleep problems among people who work irregular, long, or night shifts are prone enough to developing sleep problems that there is a disorder named for it.
Sleep attacks are the sudden, often irresistible urge to sleep at otherwise odd times, such as the middle of a meeting. They come quickly in that one moment you are doing a particular activity normally, and in a very short period of time you suddenly feel like you just woke up and need to go back to sleep. Sleep attacks can be a serious safety problem in certain professions and during certain activities like driving.
Being tired all the time usually (though not always) means you are suffering from sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation simply means you are not getting enough sleep, which for adults is at least 7 hours per day, resulting in a “sleep debt.” A sleep debt means that you will need to compensate by getting more and more consistent sleep in the future in order to relieve your sleep deprivation.
If you’ve had insomnia or are dealing with it right now, then you know how frustrating it is and how challenging it can make living a normal, happy life. In short, it can make life extremely miserable. It can make you feel and act like a different version of yourself. It can make you less productive in all areas of life. It shortens your life span and lowers quality of life. So yes, taking steps to avoid it is well worth the effort.
Restless leg syndrome (RLS) is a sleeping disorder that causes uncomfortable feelings in your legs at night, and sometimes other extremities as well. RLS causes enough discomfort to interfere with sleep, leading to sleep deprivation. Hence why it is considered a sleep disorder. It can be a potentially serious condition if the severity is bad enough, and if this post sounds all too familiar you should reach out to your doctor or a sleep specialist.
Sleep paralysis is scary, no doubt about it. It’s the feeling of being conscious, but unable to move. It occurs right before you fall asleep, or right after you wake up – namely, in the transition to or from sleep. It can last a few seconds, or it can last up to a couple of minutes (or more!).
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a medical condition and sleeping disorder that causes you to stop breathing for about 20 seconds many times throughout the night. Each time you stop breathing, your body rouses itself to force you to start breathing again. Each of these stop-start breathing cycles is called an apnea event, and they essentially prevent you from getting restful sleep, leading to moderate to severe sleep deprivation. OSA can cause significant and negative impacts on your life. Some are more at risk to develop OSA than others, the question is: are you at risk?
Sleep deprivation is exactly what it sound like: you are deprived of sleep. 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.