Feeling sluggish and irritable? Multiple days feeling unmotivated, run down, and maybe even some physical illness? The cause behind your less than yourself demeanor might not be what you think. In fact, it might be that you have inquired about sleep debt, and making up sleep debt can be an unpleasant task, but it doesn’t have to be.
Credit cards, student loans, mortgage, and medical debt are common forms of debt that most have heard of. But did you know there is an even more common form of debt that is less known but can cost you more than the money in your bank account. That is sleep debt. It can cost you productivity, motivation, your overall health and wellbeing. And when sleep calls in the debt you owe, you won’t be able to postpone or short-change it. Sounds bleak, but there is some light at the end of the tunnel. You can take steps right now to make up sleep debt and prevent accruing it in the future.
Consequences of Unresolved Sleep Debt and Sleep Disorders
Mental health and overall well being encompasses a wide variety of disorders, a class of disorders that are rare and less heard of are sleep disorders. Sleep disorders can wreak havoc on the quality of your daily life, as such, when problems sleeping arise that persist, it may not be just your typical sleepless night at work.
The long-term effects of sleep loss and untreated sleep disorders have been associated with a large range of adverse health consequences. Some main risks include:
- Diabetes
- Depression
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
- Obesity
- Heart attack
- Coronary heart disease
- Stroke
The worst part is, while the consequences of sleep debt and disorders can be devastating, they frequently go undiagnosed but can often be readily and effectively treated.
You may be thinking it is just a few hours of missed sleep or a few restless nights. However, evidence demonstrates the negative effects of such behaviors. The reason behind the importance of sleep is that during the night hours when your mind has quieted and drifted into unconsciousness, your body is hard at work supporting healthy brain function and maintaining your physical health. In children and teens, sleep plays a pivotal role in healthy growth and development.
To begin with, sleep influences your ability to perform important cognitive functions such as:
- Thinking (particularly critical thinking)
- React
- Problem solve
- Learn
- Regulate mood
During non-REM sleep, your blood pressure and heart rate slow. This change allows your parasympathetic system to take control so that your body and your heart are not working as tirelessly as during waking hours. Implementing good sleep practices is of immeasurable benefit.
Strategies For Repaying Sleep Debt
In a nutshell, to understand strategies for repaying sleep debt, it helps to understand what exactly sleep debt is. Sleep debt describes the discrepancy between the amount of sleep a person needs and how much they get. When the time needed exceeds the time gotten, you end up with sleep debt. You can think of it like a math equation:
- (Sleep Gotten) − (Sleep Needed) = Sleep Debt
- Example:
- Sleep Gotten : 6, Sleep Needed: 8
- 6 − 8 = −2 = Sleep Debt
Sleep debt may not be that precise. However, this highlights the basic principle. When accumulated over time, sleep debt can have disastrous consequences. Often, these consequences extend further than our mood and how we feel. However, you can implement healthy practices today for better sleep tomorrow.
Can You Make Up Sleep Debt?
How can you repay sleep debt on your terms with as little headache as possible? It will not be the easiest thing you’ve ever done. Repaying sleep debt requires consistency and discipline. However, implementing a few of these steps can have a monumental payoff in the long run.
- Establish a consistent sleep schedule
- Sleep in on days you don’t have anything time sensitive to do
- Regular exercise
- Create and maintain a supportive sleep environment
- Slowly go to sleep earlier every night
- Create a nighttime routine
- Reduce caffeine intake
Unfortunately, on rarer occasions, a more serious issue may be occurring that simple lifestyle changes can’t fix. When this happens, the best course of action is to contact a sleep doctor in your area.
A sleep doctor can help you on your journey to more restful sleep by creating an individualized treatment plan, collecting data, and implementing proven interventions. Should the issue prove to be more complicated, an experienced sleep specialist can help you navigate that as well
Sleep Disorders and Their Correlation with Sleep Debt
From not getting enough sleep to getting too much, sleep disorders come in all shapes and sizes. They don’t discriminate. And the correlation between sleep disorders and sleep debt is clear.
Sleep disorders that relate to a lack of sleep, like insomnia, accrue large amounts of sleep debt. In situations like this, consulting a sleep specialist is the best course of action. Sleep disorders are complex and research is ongoing. Attempting to tackle them alone presents a significant risk to your health and well-being.
Take Control of Your Sleep Debt
It is time to take control of your sleep. By creating and implementing healthy sleep habits you have the potential to kiss those lackluster days goodbye. Improving your sleep habits has immeasurable benefits and you can get started making better choices in your sleep habits as soon as today.
Learning how to repay sleep debt can lead to dramatic benefits. When implemented regularly, steps to repay sleep debt can also create a stable foundation that fosters your health and well-being with smart sleep practices. Also, recognize when to consult a sleep doctor for persisting sleep issues. What you may have thought was simple recurring rough nights of sleep may be more complex.
References:
Institute of Medicine Committee on Sleep Medicine and Research. (2006). Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem.
NIH. (2022). Why Is Sleep Important?
