Sleep deprivation

Introduction

Sleep is essential to life; it is a state of suspended sensory and motor activity known to occur periodically in humans and other warm-blooded animals (Colliers Encyclopedia, pg 78). Sleep deprivation is a common problem that has many negative outcomes. Some of these outcomes of sleeping only a few hours a night are lessening of your attention span, irritability, and fatigue. We know sleep deprivation is not good for us but there are studies being done that indicate sleep deprivation may have some positive effects on us as well.

Discussion

Sleep is a common aspect to life; sleep deprivation is becoming more and more prevalent in today's society. We all have some form of stress in our lives, the more stress we have the more common it would be to have some type of sleep deprivation in our lives as well. There are many sleep disorders in todays society. There is insomnia, a disorder in which the person afflicted cannot sleep. Sleep apnea is a disorder in which you stop breathing momentarily during sleep. Narcolepsy is a disorder where a person can fall asleep at any moment. Sleep is the key to preventing these disorders. If we deprive ourselves of sleep there can be a loss of efficiency in mental and physical functions, irritability and tendencies toward perceptual distortion and ideational confusion. People who are sleep deprived could end up with some fairly serious health problems; therefore it is recommended that a person get their required sleep each night. Some new studies have shown that in some cases sleep deprivation could actually lessen the effects of depression in some cases.

There are many various drugs available on the market to help people sleep. There is Ambien CR Oral which is used to help treat people with insomnia, Dalmane and Doral are also used to help treat insomnia. Klonopin is used to treat seizures, pain as well as sleep disorders. Mirapex is also used to help people fall asleep as well as for people who suffer from Parkinson?s disease (MySleepCentral.com). While there may be many different medications that help someone fall asleep, these same medications can cause some fairly bad side effects not to mention addiction.

There are many different causes of sleep problems from stress to anxiety. Just as there many different causes of sleep problems there are just as many medications to help combat these disorders. I have found that when I am struggling to sleep I get up and read a book for a half hour. I have also found that if I am more active during the day and cut back on my intake of caffeine a couple of hours before bed I tend to sleep better at night. I not only sleep better I sleep more soundly.

If sleep is deprived then negative outcomes can occur like irritability and mood swings. Because sleep deprived people tend to be irritable and experience mood swings people who suffer from depression tend to have the opposite experiences if they become sleep ...