What is Chronic Sleep Deprivation?

Sleep deprivation is a chronic condition of not receiving adequate sleep. Adequate sleep will differ from person to person, and change as we age. Most of us suffer from sleep deprivation because we either have trouble staying asleep, or getting to sleep. Sound familiar?

It's also important to distinguish between short-term sleep deprivation, such as sleep deprivation caused by anxieties or stress that will soon pass, and long-term sleep deprivation, such as a chronic lack of sleep that may spread over months or years.

Sleep deprivation is usually followed by sleep binging (i.e. on the weekends) before the cycle of sleep deprivation starts over. Chronic sleep deprivation has a strong link to depression. One of the common signs of insomnia and sleep apnea, for example, is depression.

Sleep-Related Painful Erection (SRPE) – A Sleeping Disorder

A sleep-related painful erection is exactly what it sounds like: a painful erection that appears during REM sleep (ouch!). Getting an erection during REM sleep is completely normal, and will be experienced by most men anywhere from three to five times per night. You probably hardly need to be told this, but these erections should not be painful. This is contrasted with SRPE, where the erections are painful enough to rouse you from sleep. Generally, these erections subside soon after waking.

Perhaps surprisingly, it is not produced by sexual activity. Sexual activity will not produce it, and there are no lesions or physical damage from this condition. It only occurs during sleep. This sleep disorder is considered a parasomnia, which is a collection of sleep disorders - it is considered a sleep disorder because the erections can cause sleep deprivation.

Shift Work Sleeping Overview

Shift work sleeping disorder is a circadian rhythm disorder that causes sleep deprivation as a result of doing shift work. It's not uncommon for people to experience sleep problems when they work irregular, long, or night shifts. When this happens, it is called shift work sleep disorder.

Not everyone who works outside of the typical M-F, 9-5 shift develops this disorder, but it a frequent occurrence for people living Alaska given the relatively high number of shift work occupations here.

What Chronic Sleep Deprivation Is

Chronic sleep deprivation is sleep deprivation over a long period of time. It can have catastrophic effects on health and performance in all areas of life, and should be taken very seriously. Sleep deprivation is caused by not getting enough sleep. “Enough sleep” will be different for different ages and individuals, but if you aren’t getting the sleep you need, you will become sleep deprived. 

Chronic sleep deprivation is different from acute sleep deprivation in that acute sleep deprivation:

• Does not last long, such one night to a couple of weeks
• Usually has a known cause

Chronic sleep deprivation may or may not have a known cause. But it usually entails getting less than the required amount of sleep most or every day, which may be followed by binge sleeping and exhaustion.

Adults need about 7-9 hours of sleep per day. You will likely require sleep within this range depending on your lifestyle and unique needs. Numerous studies show that getting less than 7 hours of sleep per day (this includes naps) has negative side effects on nearly everybody.

The severity of your chronic sleep deprivation, which can be moderate or severe, will depend on how much less sleep you are getting than you need.

What is CPAP Therapy?

CPAP therapy is a treatment  that is used to treat obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Obstructive sleep apnea is a medical condition that causes you to repeatedly stop breathing throughout the night. With OSA, you stop breathing because your throat muscles relax, your airway becomes obstructed (by your tongue or tonsils), and you stop breathing. Each time this happens - which is many times throughout the night - you rouse to begin breathing again. Each time this cycle happens (stop breathing/waking) is referred to as an “apnea event” or apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea can be mild to severe, depending on how often this cycle occurs:

• Mild OSA: 5-14 apneas per hour of sleep
• Moderate OSA: 15-30 apneas per hour of sleep
• Severe OSA: 30+ apneas per hour of sleep

When you stop breathing and rouse this much throughout the night (anywhere from 40 to hundreds of times throughout the night), the natural result is severe sleep deprivation. As a result, your life may be shorter, unhappier, and less performant than if you treated your sleep apnea.

This is where CPAP therapy comes in. In CPAP therapy, you use a CPAP machine to gently push air into your airway to keep it from collapsing and, in effect, to also keep you breathing and sleeping.

Sleep Deprivation and Erectile Dysfunction (ED)

Sleep deprivation can be the primary cause of erectile dysfunction (ED). The good news, in this, is that by treating the sleep apnea, you'll actually treat the ED. 

A few nights of sleep deprivation is not likely to cause ED. It might slightly impact your libido, but sleep deprivation as a cause of ED is usually chronic (long term) sleep deprivation.

ED can be any or all of the following:

• Reduced sex drive (libido)
• Inability to get an erection
• Inability to perform (maintain an erection)

Chronic sleep deprivation is caused when you get less than 7-9 hours per day over a long period of time.

Why Sleep Matters for Covid – Your Immune System

Your immune system and sleep are connected. Sleep loss impacts your immune response and, in turn, your immune system alters your sleep. If you are trying to help fight against Covid-19, getting consistent quality sleep will be one of your primary methods of helping fight this disease and ensuring optimal recovery.

Molecules called cytokines are signaling molecules in the immune system and the brain. Sleep deprivation decreases your body’s production of cytokines and inhibit your immune response to deadly illness like Covid-19, as well as other diseases like:

• Flu
• Cold
• Chronic inflammation

Specifically, lack of sleep prevents your immune system from building up its forces, meaning that your immune system will be overloaded by illness and will likely take longer to recover.

During illness, increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines correspond with increased fatigue, which is why you feel tired when you are sick. It’s your body’s way of telling you to sleep more and recover quicker from your illness.

The key point here – along with a disclaimer – is that sleep may help you boost your immune system and protect you from, or mitigate, Covid-19 impacts on your health. However, Covid-19 is not well understood and underlying conditions and other factors may also render good-sleep a non-factor. That being said, getting plenty of sleep this winter and/or if you have signs of Covid probably won’t hurt!

Why RLS is a Problem?

Restless leg syndrome (RLS) is a nervous system disorder that causes uncomfortable feelings in your legs (and other extremities) during the night. RLS can cause enough discomfort to interfere with sleep which is why it is considered a sleep disorder. This discomfort can cause you to wake up and move your leg to ease the discomfort, which can make it hard to fall back asleep.

The bad news is that this is a vicious cycle, as the sleep deprivation may in turn also worsen your symptoms. Also, people with mild or intermittent RLS may have their RLS go undetected or misdiagnosed, which in means their sleep deprivation may go with improvement.

The good news is that this sleep disorder does not usually require medication and there are things you can do to improve it.

Insomnia Isn't So Simple

Insomnia is somewhat of a complex topic because it's not as simple as "I can't sleep." In fact, there are actually two types of insomnia, and two modes of insomnia. Here's a closer look at how to distinguish these types/modes of insomnia

The two types of insomnia are:

• Primary insomnia – insomnia as a direct result of something else
• Secondary insomnia – insomnia with no clear, underlying issue

The two modes of insomnia are:

• Acute insomnia – short term, a month or less
• Chronic insomnia – symptomatic, long term (at least three times per week for a month or more)S

So in total, there are actually four different combinations of mode/type meaning that your insomnia might look different than someone else's insomnia. Continue reading to learn more about insomnia and sleeplessness.

Sleep Is Integral to Living a Good Life

It hardly needs to be said that living with chronic sleep deprivation can make everyday feel like a struggle. You’ve felt exhausted before – you may feel exhausted right now – and you know how hard it is to function well when you are feeling so tired. Feeling periodic exhaustion gives insight into what chronic sleep deprivation can be like.

It’s certainly a strong statement to say that chronic sleep deprivation "ruins your life”, but many will attest to the fact that feeling exhausted all the time does kill your ability to function. There are conditions cause chronic sleep deprivation, to name a few:

• Sleep apnea
• Insomnia
• Parasomnias
• Restless leg syndrome
• Circadian rhythm disorders

By chronic sleep deprivation, most studies tend to look at getting less than 6 hours of sleep per night on a continual basis. Let’s look at the critical ways chronic sleep deprivation can make your life feel like a perpetual struggle.