We need to sleep. It is not only that we like it. It is that our own body asks us for it. But near are many people who, either because of outside noises or annoying neighbours, cannot sleep because of emotional problems or excessive worries. With a single night of lack of sleep, you can see how terrible insomnia is to your life, but if the pain also lasts longer, we enter a situation of significant health risk. We wonder how long a person goes without sleep, although we are unwilling to do the test.
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The Necessity For Sleep And The Importance Of Rest
Sleep is essential to our life. When we sleep, the body and brain come to rest, and it is the only way for our body to recover the energy lost during the day and do a kind of resume as if it were a computer. Regenerate our functions, get rid of what is left over, and make room for essentials.
The impression is to do it every night for about 8 hours, but each person has unalike needs. Either by obligation, because their professions force them to work at night or stay awake for a long time in the guards or because of their own physiological needs, some people sleep the rigorous 8 hours. Still, others wake up in shape with fewer hours, early in the morning more or getting up later.
Sleep needs also change with age. While babies and children want many hours of sleep, adults are governed by those 8 hours on average. On the other hand, as we get older, the hours and quality of sleep are reduced. In any case, and with our differences, we all need to sleep. And we all need a good night’s sleep.
What Happens To The Body When You Don’t Sleep
Because if sleep doesn’t come or we don’t have a good sleep quality, we notice it right away. It is something we cannot avoid, that discomfort after having had a stormy night. We do not give up; we feel sad, tired, unmotivated, we cannot concentrate, and we wonder where our energy has been.
People who have insomnia are well aware of its severe effects and how lack of sleep impacts their quality of life and affects physical and mental health. Some of the most common consequences of not sleeping are dizziness, headache, muscle aches, blurred vision, weakness, nausea, or shaking hands.
More Serious Are Some Diseases Derived From Lack Of Sleep:
” heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, gastrointestinal, urinary or respiratory problems, anxiety or depression “, as stated in the thesis of Julio Fernández Mendoza on Chronic Insomnia for the Complutense University of Madrid. And we cannot forget the psychological complications caused by not sleeping well, such as lack of concentration, lack of motivation, sadness, mental confusion, nervousness or irritability. A significant lack of [sleep] can tip to depersonalization and hallucinations.
Studies show that sleep loss of fewer than seven hours per night has a wide range of effects on the nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, and immune systems. Psychiatric or mental health problems may occur as well if a person experiences insomnia or lack of sleep for a prolonged period. In addition, some psychiatric conditions cause sleep problems, exacerbating the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder.
What Are The Ways To Treat Insomnia
When insomnia strikes, people try various remedies. For example, some drink milk, self-massage, or take a hot bath with essential oils to help set the mood for sleep. Health supplements, such as magnesium glycinate and melatonin, help people fall asleep faster and promote a longer good night’s rest. These supplements help increase sleep hormones, like melatonin, helping treat insomnia.
Natural methods, like exercising and keeping yourself busy during the day, help increase melatonin production for better sleep. More often than not, people who experience minor sleep problems do well with home remedies and supplements.
A more serious type of insomnia needs professional consultation from experienced psychiatrists and medical doctors. Doctors are available in hospitals and medical centers, specializing in treating different sleep problems. Patients who exhibit signs and symptoms of depression may undergo anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medication and different therapies, depending on the physical and psychiatric assessment, laboratory findings, and scan results.
How Long Is Somebody Able To Function Without Sleeping
By substitution, you can go without sleep for an extended period. It is from 78 hours when the body begins to suffer, but the consequences of lack of sleep are reversible in this period. Sleep deprivation is part of those tortures that we have read and heard about, and there is also many military personnel who in war situations have gone four days without rest.
The risks increase as the amount of time you go without sleep increases. We have heard about a 17-year-old student who holds the record for hours without sleep. In 1965, Randy Gardner consumed 264 hours awake, that is, 11 days. According to the University of California, which investigated the occasion. The student presented a picture of cognitive deficiencies, vision and speech problems, and hallucinations.
Better not do the test because lack of sleep can be fatal. It is the case of people who suffer from so-called Fatal Family Insomnia. A strange hereditary disease that 40 families have in the world. The condition makes its appearance around the age of 50 or 60 and begins with insomnia. Which could remain expected, progressing to weight loss, hallucinations, dementia and, finally, death.
Lack of sleep causes irreparable damage to the brain, but we are talking about extreme and prolonged situations. In general, our body has an excellent capacity for recovery. Although we will not deny that suffering from insomnia drastically reduces the quality of life.
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