7 Sure-Fire Signs of a Sleep Deprived Victim
Avoid that zombie-like state of being sleep deprived. It will leave your days unfulfilling and always fall short of your expectations. It's because your mind is not functioning at 100% efficiency. Our brain requires the repairs we get from our nightly sleep cycles. Lack of sleep has many downsides including weight gain that puts pressure on our bodies to keep up with our restless nights.
Signs You are Sleep Deprived
1. More Hungry than Usual
We can't sleep because we are hungry and we are hungry because we can't sleep, it's a vicious cycle! Just joking. But sleep deprivation is no joke. It will make you overeat in ways you thought impossible.
2. Yawning
Yawning is the classic indicator that you are deprived of sleep. Yawning all day means you really aren't getting necessary sleep at night and your body is trying to tell you to sleep.
3. Always Sick
Cough, sneeze, fever can be caused by lack of sleep. If you are sick regularly, perhaps consider seeing a doctor and he will tell you that you have too much stress from lack of sleep.
4. Poor Memory
Sleep deprived people have less ability to remember things than most. Our short-term memory is cloudy when we don't rest.
5. Mood Swings
Extreme negative mood swings and crankiness are results from sleep deprivation that should not be ignored. To have a good and stable mood, you must sleep regularly.
6. Sleeping in Public
Sleeping in public is reserved for homeless people. You shouldn't be so tired to the point where you are snoozing on the job.
7. Weight Gain
Weight gain occurs from extra calories and the quality of foods you eat when you are sleep deprived. From not sleeping, your metabolism slows down.
Our body and mind has to work extra hard just to make up for our loss of sleep. If there is anything you are doing that's preventing you from getting a full night's sleep, then just realize the consequences. Is staying up later worth being tired the next day? The effect that regular sleep has on us is miraculous. It can completely transform our outlook on life and everything else in general. It boosts our mood and makes us more intelligent. It makes our bodies and faces look more attractive. Sleeping one third of our lives isn't such a bad thing if we are able to live two thirds of our lives to the best of our ability.
A Sleep Deprived Individual is Stuck in a Vegetative State Where Their Mind Cannot Grow and They Can't Make the Right Choices
In order to function at peak efficiency, we need proper rest. There's no time in a busy lifestyle to be sleep deprived all day every day.
1. You've Got the Munchies
And not only are we hungrier when we don't sleep, but we crave unhealthy foods as well. We are more likely to snack when sleep deprived and more likely to consume empty carbs and sugar. The reason why: the hormones in your brain responsible for signaling hunger are out of wack. It's because sleep is what repairs the neurons in your mind overnight to be able to function the next day. The part of your brain responsible for hunger isn't functioning properly; thus you have cravings for food all day. If you are consistently deprived of sleep, you will find yourself hungrier more often and for worse kinds of food.
2. You Can't Stop Yawning
This is one of the most obvious signs of sleep deprivation. Yawning at all indicates that you aren't getting your required amount of sleep and you should probably consider bumping up your average sleep per night by one hour. Yawning is your body's way of telling you that you are sleep deprived. Everyone's sleep habits are different though, as well as their yawning. Sometimes I yawn only when I'm bored. Even if you get enough sleep during the night, yawning happens around the middle of the day. When you have the feeling like you need a nap, then take a short one. Yawning is the indicator of sleeping deprivation, so you should listen to your body when it is trying to tell you something.
3. You Keep Catching Colds
Sickness occurs on an average of once every year for most people. If you've ever had bouts of sickness where you experienced two colds in less than one month, then something is wrong. Most likely it is something wrong with the amount of sleep you are getting at night. Severe sleep deprivation weakens your immune system and makes it easier for bacteria to infect your body. Those of us who pulled many all-nighters in college can attest to this. Stressful finals weeks often leaves many students tired and sick afterwards. In order to recover and prevent the common cold among other illness is to get enough sleep. Sickness is a very obvious sign of chronic sleep deprivation that you should never ignore. No amount of vitamin C can undo the damage you are doing by losing sleep.
4. You Can't Focus or Remember Anything
For example, if you are having trouble understanding the words in this article, you may consider grabbing yourself some sleep. Sleep loss causes us to lose concentration on even the most simple of tasks. Causes of sleep deprivation are many wacky issues with our brain functioning, and focus is one of them. Memory is another; you have a harder time remembering things. Your short-term memory is almost non-existent and you have trouble forming words and communicating. Sleep repairs the neurons in our brain allowing us to function properly. Not getting enough sleep leads to our body and mind not getting refreshed for the next day. Our brain has to work overtime the next day with a lack of sleep.
5. You Have Extreme Mood Swings
We tend to get more moody than usual when we haven't gotten enough sleep. Irritability normally signals that you are either hungry or sleepy. If you want to be in a consistently good mood, then you need proper rest. You cannot expect to be sleep deprived and be functioning at 100% efficiency all day every day. Your body and mind needs a break from your hard work. Having a good mood is essential for functioning around people, so it is in your best interest to maintain good sleep hygiene. Extreme mood swings on low rest tend to be more negative than positive, but weird things happen when you are in insomnia-mode. We tend to get a bit crazier after consistently poor nights of sleep.
6. You Doze Off in Public
On the train, in the library, in class, at work. You cannot control your sleep habits because you aren't doing what's necessary at night to be rested the next day. If you find yourself snoozing at inappropriate times, then it's a sign you are sleep deprived on abnormal levels. Wanting to sleep in public is one thing, actually doing it is quite another. Being comfortable enough around strangers to go to sleep is a sign that you need more sleep at night. It's a lot more restful sleep when you get it in your bed, as opposed to sitting in a chair. It's also not a good feeling being woken up by someone when you are in the middle of your sleep cycle. That's why you need regular sleep, to avoid having to sleep at inappropriate times. The effects of insomnia are very damaging to our lives.
7. You are Experiencing Some Weight Gain
Part of this ties into being hungry all the time when sleep deprived, but there's a little bit more to it than that. Your metabolism relies on proper sleep to get going in the morning. With six or less hours of sleep, it doesn't give our bodies enough time to jump start our metabolism in the morning. Thus we digest our food more slowly all day. The food stays in our system longer and we feel hungry for more. The effects of sleep deprivation on weight gain are automatic and unpreventable. Well, it is preventable. If you get enough sleep, that is.
