KOCHI: Sleep is vital to maintain proper brain functioning. Sleeping is as essential as breathing and eating. Sleep deprivation is dangerous to our mental and physical health, and can dramatically lower our quality of life. The quality of your sleep directly affects the quality of your awake life, including your mental sharpness, productivity, emotional balance, creativity, physical vitality, and body weight.
In fact, no other activity delivers so many benefits with so little effort!
While sleeping, one’s body tends to our physical and mental health needs. It basically gets you ready for another day. Even minimal sleep loss takes a toll on your mood, energy, and ability to handle stress.
A side effect of sleep deprivation is ‘microsleep’, during which one dozes off for some seconds or a few minutes, without realising it. Microsleep can be extremely dangerous – even fatal – if one is driving or engaged in high-risk activities.
Microsleep usually lasts under 30 seconds. One might have multiple microsleep episodes in a short span. However, one does not realise this as a period of sleep needs to last at least a minute for the brain to register it.
Personal and public safety comes under threat when certain professionals experience microsleep. Such episodes are commonly seen among long-distance drivers, pilots, air traffic controllers, workers at processing plants or refineries, and in the medical field.
Sleep deprivation is the main cause. Poor quality of sleep may also result in microsleeping. It can stem from physical and mental conditions, including sleep apnea, narcolepsy, obesity, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, etc. The use of alcohol and certain medications can also lead to episodes of microsleep. Antihistamines are one commonly used medicine that can cause sleepiness.
Tips to prevent microsleep
Take short, periodic breaks from what you are doing. It only takes about half an hour for monotony to affect alertness
The sleep cycle
The stages of REM and non-REM sleep constitute a complete sleep cycle, typically lasting about 90 minutes and repeating four to six times per night. Deep sleep (Stage N3) and REM sleep are particularly crucial.
Our 24-hour sleep-wake cycle, also known as the biological clock or circadian rhythm, is regulated by brain processes responding to wakefulness duration and light-dark changes. At night, the body produces melatonin in response to diminishing daylight, inducing sleepiness. Daylight inhibits melatonin production, promoting wakefulness.
Internal clock disruptions can occur due to factors like nightshift work, travel across time zones, or irregular sleep patterns, leading to grogginess and disorientation. Melatonin production can be affected by a lack of daytime sunlight or excess artificial light exposure, especially from electronic devices like TVs, computers, tablets, and phones.
The recommended sleep duration for adults aged 18-64 is 7-9 hours (National Sleep Foundation), yet the average adult sleeps less than seven hours, contributing to chronic sleep deprivation. In today’s fast-paced society, six or six and a half hours of sleep may seem sufficient, but it leads to adverse effects.
During sleep, the brain rests on active neurons, forming new pathways for morning functions. Sleep deprivation exhausts the brain, impairs concentration, hinders learning, and adversely affects memory, decision-making, creativity, and emotions. Prolonged sleep deprivation increases the risk of hallucinations, mania, impulsive behaviour, depression, paranoia, and suicidal thoughts.
“Sharp wave ripples” during deep sleep consolidate memory, transferring learned information from the hippocampus to the neocortex, where long-term memories reside.
Tips to improve sleep