C-Force: We're Beyond Tired; We're Sleep Deprived

At some point in your life, you may have been facing a big and perplexing decision, and someone might have given you the advice to "sleep on it." This adage is derived from an age-old bit of sound advice. Making difficult decisions is generally easier if we are well rested and can possibly see the options more clearly. According to writingexplained.org, this exact guidance has been handed down in various settings and circumstance since the 1500s -- maybe even earlier.

We now know that there is scientific evidence supporting this process. According to writingexplained.org, studies show that the unconscious mind could even be better at "synthesizing information" than the conscious mind. "Someone who is fatigued" is inclined to make more mistakes than "someone who is alert and wide awake."

But here's where, in today's world, these assumptions start to break down. As reported by the Center for Advancing Health, sleep deprivation, or not getting enough sleep each night, has become all too common.

As reported by the Center for Advancing Health, today, 50 million to 70 million Americans have some type of sleep disorder. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 5 men have insomnia. Also hard hit are those to whom we turn to care for us. The insomnia rate among health care workers is said to have increased to 64% from 44.5% during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Sufficient, healthy sleep duration is a vital part of our physical and mental well-being," writes CFAH founder Nina Julia. "It's a biological necessity that also reduces injury and accident risks. However, not all of us enjoy sufficient sleep."

A recent report by Livestrong.com's Jaime Osnato points out that "many people wear lack of sleep like a badge of honor, taking pride in pulling an all-nighter or surviving on five hours a night. But skipping sleep shouldn't be valued as a sign of strength or productivity. Quality sleep is crucial for overall health and well-being. Not getting enough sleep can have harmful effects. ... [W]hile certain symptoms of sleep deprivation -- like feeling tired during the day -- are obvious, others are harder to notice."

Emerson Wickwire is a professor and section head of sleep medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He tells Livestrong.com there are four signs of possible harmful sleep deprivation effects that people must be aware of. One of them is cognitive impairment. "Decades of clinical, experimental and epidemiologic evidence demonstrates that sleep is essential for cognitive function," Wickwire says. "Not getting enough sleep, or quality sleep, worsens brain function, including our ability to remember, concentrate and make good decisions."

"More recent data even suggests that chronic sleep deprivation increases the risk for cognitive decline as we age, including Alzheimer's disease," Wickwire adds.

According to an April 2021 study in Nature Communications, middle-aged people (those in their 50s and 60s) who slept six hours or less per night had a 30% higher risk of developing dementia later in life compared to those who slept a normal seven hours each night.

Another indicator is weight gain. "If you're putting on pounds without explanation, lack of sleep may be to blame," reports Osnato. According to Wickwire, "With as little as one night of partial sleep deprivation, we feel more hungry, less full and [have] more cravings for calorie-dense foods that are high in sugars and fats." It makes one less likely to be physically active during the day. As reported in a September 2019 study in the Journal of Lipid Research, sleep deprivation can affect how your body stores fat from food.

This next indicator could easily be labeled "someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Changes in mood can be attributed to a lack of sleep. As summarized by Osnato, a study by the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry reports that "sleep plays a pivotal role in certain brain functions that regulate emotions and behaviors ... unsatisfactory shut-eye can ramp up negative emotional responses, reduce our ability to cope with stressors (even minor ones) and diminish positive emotions."

"And, when we feel down or stressed, we tend to sleep even worse, so the problem perpetuates and can create a vicious cycle," Wickwire adds.

Sleep deprivation can also reduce your ability to fight off infections. As explained in an American Thoracic Society report, during sleep, your body recharges and repairs itself. A lack of sleep affects your immune system. A September 2015 study in the journal Sleep, the official publication of the Sleep Research Society, also found that folks who sleep fewer than six hours per night are more susceptible to getting sick with the common cold.

The Livestrong.com report also advises that if you're experiencing daytime drowsiness along with any of the above symptoms, "consult with your doctor who may refer you to a sleep specialist."

At the end of the day, how we feel is determined by the decisions we make. How much sleep can no longer be short-sheeted.

Emily Ballesteros is a burnout management specialist and author of "The Cure for Burnout: How to Find Balance and Reclaim Your Life." In a recent Time magazine report, she notes that we are now in the era of "The Great Exhaustion."

"Over 47 million Americans voluntarily resigned from their positions -- people are feeling a strain on more than just their work calendars; they're feeling it on their spirits," she reports. "People feel so fatigued that they are cutting out activities that used to be commonplace and low stress, like working out and going to the supermarket. Factor in recovering from the pandemic, inflation, and global stressors, and you've got a recipe for complete physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion." It has become normalized. "...exposure to stress outside of our control, and financial insecurity. These are facets of our lives that we have managed to normalize. But this normalization has caused us to disregard their impact on our physical and mental wellbeing."

"When everywhere we turn there is news making us feel like things aren't getting better, we begin to break down," Ballesteros concludes. "Frustration over time turns into defeat, and defeat looks an awful lot like exhaustion. ... At the end of the day, how we feel is determined by small decisions we make." Let's start making the act of getting a good, quality night's sleep at the top of our "to-do" list.

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Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and Facebook's "Official Chuck Norris Page." He blogs at http://chucknorrisnews.blogspot.com. To find out more about Chuck Norris and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.