Sleep deprivation can make you sick, warn doctors

On the occasion of World Sleep Day on March 19, we look at how irregular sleeping patterns can not only take a toll on your mental and physical well-being

Sleep, which can bring even the greatest warriors down on their backs, is something that goes unacknowledged by the gen-Z; and consequently, today’s generation suffers from insomnia and other sleep irregularities more than any other generation in the past. Be it the kids or the elderly, the year that has been in the pandemic seems to have affected everybody.

On the occasion of World Sleep Day on March 19, Metrolife spoke to psychiatrists and experts on the subject to find out more on the subject. Psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty told Metrolife that sleep is more about architecture and not arithmetic; which means that the sleep has to be rhythmic and must have phases of deep sleep and dream sleep, and not just eight hours of sleep. Also, sleep is intrinsically linked with the working of the body and it is not just about the memory alone. A sleep-deprived person will have a hard time to concentrate, recall things, and if sleep deprivation is prolonged, it could lead to anxiety and depression, and even psychosis. Sleep deprivation shortens one’s life in many ways.

Dr Shetty tells Metrolife, “Lack of sleep affects the mind-body orchestra, which means that it affects the stress circuit, in technical terms called the HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) circuit. When this happens, other organs of the body start protesting, like, the pancreas go into strike mode and refuse to give you insulin and you get diabetes. The arteries become much stressed and they contract, causing blood pressure. Violence and explosive anger that you see on the streets could be because of sleep deprivation.” “Sleep deprivation and insomnia are two different things. Insomnia is difficulty in falling asleep, intermittently broken sleep, or getting up very early in the morning. And sleep deprivation is intently not sleeping till late.”

“Sleep has to follow a circadian rhythm. For people who work on computers for long hours, the white light from the screen tells the pineal gland that it is daytime. Those who go to the gym at night also have difficulties falling asleep.”

“Excessive use of caffeine can also cause dangerous insomnia. Lack of sleep disturbs the hormonal circuit, and it can cause infertility, loss of libido, etc. Those who deprive themselves of dream sleep also have a risk of sudden cardiac arrest,” adds Dr Shetty.

What went wrong during the pandemic

“Because of the fear of the virus a lot of people experienced anxiety, and anxiety is a major cause of disturbed sleep. During the initial phase of the pandemic, kids experienced sudden panic attacks. The elderly too were also all over the place as they feared that they had co-morbidities,” says Dr Shetty.

“Also, when you work online and from home, the work is actually more. Initially during the first phase of the lockdown people were not getting out and exercising and spent lots of time on OTT platforms like Netflix.

That is one more reason why the mind-body orchestra was affected during the pandemic,” he adds. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings had claimed that the streaming giant’s biggest rivals aren’t YouTube or Amazon, but it is the need for sleep.

The current generation takes sleep for granted in the name of productivity. By its inherent nature productivity is a very capitalistic concept, and in capitalistic world algorithms which control our minds and our bodies flourish. Dr Ayesha Bala, says that if a person has a bad sleep cycle their happiness level reduces, and they prefer less social interaction. It could affect their performance at work. It could lead to memory errors, depression, and also life-threatening diseases like cancer. “You need more energy to be awake, and therefore tend to eat more unhealthy food which leads to diabetes,” adds Dr Bala.

Dr Amit Rai, a general practitioner, says that sleeping well means you respect your body. “To maintain a healthy mind-body orchestra one must take care of what diet one is sticking to as diets also affect your sleep. If one is consuming food with lots of calories and heat, it will make you restless and uncomfortable, and eventually, affect the sleep cycle,” says Dr Rai.