Why do we need enough sleep?

Does lack of sleep hurt us? Are people getting enough sleep nowadays? Well, we all need sleep. Us humans would not be able to function without it. Nowadays people are not getting enough sleep. According to the CDC, about one in three adults don’t get enough sleep but it’s a bigger problem when it comes to children. If people don’t get enough sleep, it will start to affect their mental health and physical health. I will be talking about how lack of sleep affects your mental health, and physical health, and why you should think to prioritize sleep.

PHYSICAL HEALTH

People need enough sleep to be physically healthy. Lack of sleep poses a threat to your physical safety and severely increases the risk of many diseases and health problems. Sleep helps develop healthy cerebrum activity and promotes adequate health, or in other words, sleep helps your brain activity and overall health. Which is a good example of why we need sleep to be physically healthy.

I think that if more people took the time to sleep, there would be an increase in the population of people who have adequate physical health. According to sleepfoundation.org, You can get heart problems, stroke, memory consolidation, and lack of growth and development if you don’t get enough sleep. Lack of sleep is also very dangerous for others. You may not see it, but when you don’t get enough sleep it makes you drowsy. This drowsiness is kind of like getting drunk, and the number one rule is to not drive when you are drunk. This rule applies to drowsiness too. You could fall asleep behind the wheel and end up in an accident, hurting yourself and others. These are many reasons why you need to get enough sleep to sustain adequate health, and physical health.

MENTAL HEALTH

People need enough sleep to be mentally healthy. If more people took time to sleep and rest it would affect their mental health in a positive way. People have been having problems with their mental health. A common issue that has taken place recently has been covid. Covid has not been the only thing that has affected mental health. Sleep affects your mental health too.

Sleep affects your mood, so after just one night with very little sleep, it can affect you in many ways. First off you will be way more irritable, short-tempered, and vulnerable to stress. Or in other words, this lack of sleep will make you easily annoyed by things, or easily made angry. But once you have had a good night's rest, your mood will be back to normal. So If more people took time to sleep and rest, it would affect their mental health in a positive way instead of when you don’t get enough sleep and it affects mental health in a negative way. That is why people need enough sleep to be mentally healthy.

PRIORITIZE SLEEP

People need to prioritize sleep. As I said prior to this paragraph, people are not getting enough sleep. One-in-three adults do not get the amount of sleep recommended. Children are also not receiving as much sleep as they should. According to healthline.com, early school start times, screen-related distractions, and other external pressures have contributed to 52% of American children ages 6 to 17 getting less than 9 hours of sleep. Luckily there is a solution to this situation, you can prioritize sleep.

There are many ways you can prioritize sleep to make sure you get a good night's rest. The best way is by attempting scheduled bedtimes according to how many hours of sleep you need, and also by turning off electronics around an hour before lights-out. People who prioritize sleep and have optimal bedtime routines have been found to do better in things, and have a better working memory, inhabitation and attention.

If you are gonna go to bed at a scheduled time, you are going to need to know how much sleep your body needs. Healthy adults need between 7 and 9 hours. Anyone over the age of 65 should get 7 to 8 hours. Children need more sleep because they are still growing. Kids ages 6-13 need 9-11 hours of sleep. If more people chose to prioritize sleep this scenario of many people not getting enough sleep, would have been avoided. People would be well-rested and have lots of energy instead of being grouchy all day.

Someone may say, “ Well, I could prioritize sleep, but there is just so much to do like homework or work, there is just no time.” What I have to say to all those people who feel that way, and are not getting enough sleep, is back up your schedule, and make that time to sleep. Yes, sleep can get in your way like that, But if you take the time to rest and recharge you will have even more energy and feel more up to doing the work. You may even end up doing the work better than if you were tired. You don’t always have to finish the work right then and there or on that day, you should take a break to rest and recharge.

To conclude, lack of sleep can be effective in many ways. It can affect your mental health by making you feel very moody, physical health like your brain and heart, and overall adequate health. Sleep is very important, so it is good to make sure you get enough of it. I hope that you will be able to see how sleep affects us, and why prioritizing sleep is not only practical but beneficial.

References

Curley, C. (2019, October 24). Only Half of U.S. Children Get Enough Sleep: Why That’s a Serious Problem. Healthline; Healthline Media. https://www.healthline.com/health-news/children-lack-of-sleep-health-problems

Epstein, L. (2008, December 15). Sleep and mood | need sleep. Healthysleep.med.harvard.edu. https://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/need-sleep/whats-in-it-for-you/mood

Heart Health (December 1, 2019). Are you getting enough sleep? Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/are-you-getting-enough-sleep

Pacheco, D. (2020, October 27). Physical Health and Sleep: How Are They Connected? Sleep Foundation. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/physical-health

Prioritizing sleep? Your immune system thanks you. (2021, March 16). Newsroom.uw.edu. https://newsroom.uw.edu/postscript/prioritizing-sleep-your-immune-system-thanks-you

Regular Bedtime Healthy for Adults. (n.d.). Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health-news/its-not-just-for-kids-even-adults-appear-to-benefit-from-a-regular-bedtime

Suni, E. (2020, July 31). How Much Sleep Do We Really Need? Sleep Foundation. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need#:~:text=National%20Sleep%20Foundation%20guidelines1