life
Sleep — boon or bane?
….lets find out
How many times have you faced the dilemma of desperately wanting to rest, to sleep but not expressing it for the fear of being judged or mocked at?
“All that you can ever think of is sleeping! Look at us, we can stay up all night and work all day! You are such a waste.”
“You are such a lazy creature. Sleep is all you can think of.”
Heard those lines before? I have. :)
Statements used with the intention of making one feel guilty for asking for rest, to rejuvenate. I am a sleeper…yeah, I don’t mind calling myself that, in fact, I am blessed to be able to sleep peacefully. When I look around myself I know a minimum of five people in my closest circle who struggle to get a night full or in fact even a couple of hours of peaceful sleep.
The current world is struggling with sleep disorders thanks to the exposure to constant stimulation all around us. They will continue to scroll down reel after reel, or YouTube shorts or something on Netflix until their eyelids just drop down dead, which happens mostly after midnight, and in chronic sufferers almost at sunrise! Imagine, if you sleep at sunrise, what time do you wake up? How do you plan your day when half of it is already lost sleeping? How do you take meals on time or go for early morning strolls? How do you feel fresh?
All this then exposes us to a plethora of health issues because of unhealthy eating habits, erratic meal timings, lack of exercise due to lethargy, and so on. So much for the night-riders.
Then there are those who sleep late, wake up early and are super-productive, the proud workaholics! Late-sleepers, early risers with dark under-eye circles, anger issues and concentration problems. Bosses love them, families hate them and their bosses. Obviously!
These people are naturally gifted and can function with just power naps or four hours of sleep. That’s the upside. The downside is that it doesn’t last long and the chronic effects of sleep deprivation gradually start setting in. They have bouts of depression, irritability, fatigue and appetite issues. They face mood swings and snap at people for no reason. All these behavioural changes occur in phases, gradually increasing in intensity to a point where they reach suicidal tendencies if they are not lucky enough to identify the cause of their distress and work on it.
Here it is essential to take a look at the average sleep requirements for the human body which are classified by age group, and range from up to 16 hours per day for children to up to 8 hours for adults. (1)
An extensive study on “The Extent and Health Consequences of Chronic Sleep Loss and Sleep Disorders” (2) states:
“The cumulative long-term effects of sleep loss and sleep disorders have been associated with a wide range of deleterious health consequences including an increased risk of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, heart attack, and stroke. After decades of research, the case can be confidently made that sleep loss and sleep disorders have profound and widespread effects on human health.”
Also,
“The increase in sleep loss is driven largely by broad societal changes, including greater reliance on longer work hours, shift work, and greater access to television and the Internet.”
But the purpose of this article is to discuss or rather highlight, the social aspects of sleep deprivation. The attitude that people generally carry when someone asks for rest is extremely negative and downgrading, to the extent that one tries to burn the candle at both ends just so as to avoid being ridiculed without even realising that he would eventually face burnout. This has to change. Each body is different and thus has different requirements.
Another study, published by Liu in 2004, demonstrated the direct link sleep deprivation had to suicidal behavior in adolescents. (3)
If we think about it deeply, adolescence is the age when the child is most exposed to peer pressure and judgement, and the child can do anything just to ‘fit-in’ even if it meant staying up late at night.
Fortunately now, we have access to immense data circulating on the internet which proves how chronic sleep deprivation can affect a person physically, emotionally, mentally and weaken his immune system to an extent where he’s prone to major diseases.
As a result, the concept of sleep clinics, sleep centres, sleep-cations has come up and we have sleep therapists who are helping people get some sleep and recover. But, as a society, isn’t it sad that we are responsible for disturbing a person’s natural circadian rhythm to the extent that they need professional help to sleep? Cant we, as a society, stop judging people and stop pushing our boundaries too just to prove that we are super-humans?
To all those who face this dilemma —
Stand up for yourself. Do not feel embarrassed to ask for rest. It doesn’t matter what the world thinks about you, whatever you do they would still point fingers. Always remember this- you are completely replaceable at work. The day your productivity goes down they won’t need you anymore. So prioritise yourself and your needs.
To all those workaholics and who think they possess supernatural powers-
We respect your capabilities but expect some humility from your end. Each one is made different, learn to accept and not just impose your views and ideas on them. You have no clue what impact your words could have on someone who is struggling, so be kind, it costs nothing.
Also, be kind to yourself too, you don’t know how long it will last.
- https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep-deprivation/how-much-sleep
- Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Sleep Medicine and Research; Kolten HR, Altevogt BM, eds. Comprehensive sleep and guaranteed sleep: an unmet public health problem. Washington (DC): National Academics Press (US); 2006. 3, The extent and health consequences of sleep loss and chronic sleep disorders. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19961/
- X. Liu. Sleep and suicidal behavior in adolescents. all. 2004 Nov 1;27(7):1351–8. doi: 10.1093/sleep/27.7.1351. PMID: 15586788.
