Ashley Grace
Most of us, if not all, have experienced sleep loss at one time or another. You may have decided to stay up all night or remain awake involuntarily. Either way, you lose precious sleep. Sleep loss manifests in difficulty falling asleep or remaining in that constant state of sleep. There are several causes and ways to prevent sleep loss. You may want to read on to find out more.
Understanding sleep loss
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It is triggered by sleep deprivation. Surprisingly, sleep loss is a common occurrence among many adults. You might be suffering from sleep deprivation and not doing anything about it. Many people with such disorders do not exhibit instant chronic symptoms. In fact, in many of these instances, the manifestation of sleep loss starts small and builds up to intolerable symptoms. The worst part is that sleep deprivation and developed disorders can negatively influence how you function throughout the day. It is no wonder healthcare providers insist on the importance of good sleep.
What causes it?
Sleep loss has multifactorial causes. Several things contribute to poor sleeping conditions and eventually sleep loss disorders. However, you can categorize them as behavioral or lifestyle causes and occupational causes. Let’s take a look at how both of these aspects may lead to the development of sleep loss.
Behavioral causes
Poor dieting without exercise
Many of us exhibit very poor diet habits from insufficient nutrient uptake to drug consumption. As an adult, there are several nutritional requirements you must meet daily for healthy function. It may be through supplements or directly from food, but these needs are necessary to maintain an optimum state. When you do not take these foods or nutrients consistently, it starts to show physically and mentally.
A proper diet will translate into good sleep quality. The slim waist is just a bonus. Until recently, all the exercise I did was walking up the stairs when the lights were out, or the elevator didn’t function. Exercise is not meant to just cut on weight. Everyone needs a consistent workout routine to help maintain a healthy balance. Healthy eating and regular exercise are at the core of good lifestyles. You don’t have to give up all your vices, just regulate them, so they do not affect your state of body and mind.
Terrible sleeping conditions
Many people experience difficulty falling asleep or going back to sleep when they awake during the night. Other factors aside, poor sleeping conditions may keep you from falling are sleep, or make you up in the first place. In other instances, they are the reason you wake up moody, tired or with weird aches and cramps. Sleeping conditions range from the type of window treatments you have to your mattress.
Basically, anything that affects the temperature, light intensity, light exposure or noise. One of the major issues is having a suitable mattress. Apart from supporting you, the ideal mattress should accommodate your sleeping habits. This way, you can achieve faster and uninterrupted sleep. Companies such as denver mattress offer you such options depending on what habit you need to be accommodated.
The other conditions are also important to initiate and maintain you at a state of deep sleep until your designated wake time. You will find it easier to fall and remain asleep in a cool, dark, quiet and organized room.
Occupational causes
These are generally stress and anxiety-inducing factors. Because of the intensity and stress that work has on our bodies, many of us are at risk of experiencing some sleep loss. It may be pressure to produce that new marketing campaign or everyone keeps hounding about different reports. All the demands we all have to meet at our many workplaces coupled with responsibilities create stress. No matter how much you love your job, it still has some element of stress that could bring on stress. When your body experiences these unchecked feelings of stress and anxiety, you start to find it difficult to fall asleep or experience imbalance in your sleep-wake cycles. There are many ways these pressures translate into your sleep. One of the final products of this may be substance dependence or development of sleep loss disorders.
Ways you can prevent sleep loss disorders
Once you understand the importance of healthy living, you will appreciate the positive effect it has on your sleep. The only way to remedy sleep loss disorders is to get enough sleep obviously. When you experience great quality sleep, your body is at optimum to manage any stresses and function properly.
- Develop a routine that will have you in bed and out of bed at a particular time. Once you establish such a schedule, your internal clock will drive you to need sleep when bedtime approaches.
- Invest in good quality sleep. Set up your space to invite and maintain sleep. You may have to make some adjustments with the lights, temperature, and sleep materials but it will all be worth it. Additionally, you will have to adjust your behavior to promote good sleep. It will take a lot of discipline and restraint, but this makes it even more worthwhile.
- Mediate to regulate your stress and anxiety levels. Mediation and hour or so before bedtime will leave you relaxed and ready for sleep.
- Talk to your doctor if you are unsure about what could be causing your sleep loss. They will then determine the most effective course of action. You might have a more severe condition that has sleep loss as one of its symptoms.
- Eat right and exercise. Choosing the right foods and taking your supplements on time is one way to start off. Sure you can have the occasional pepperoni pizza, but balance out what you eat. Do not restrict your body to meals that do not have much nutritional value.
Final word
Good sleep is essential for day to day functioning. When you are sleep deprived, your body is not capable of conducting these functions properly. It is important that you protect yourself from sleep loss. These guidelines should help keep you on track to achieve good sleep and prevent sleep loss and the effects that come with it.
