ALBEMARLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) — A bad night of sleep can make getting through the day a serious struggle. An occasional night of poor sleep is common, but a steady pattern of it could seriously harm your health.
More than one-third of American adults are not getting enough sleep, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Sleeping issues are probably one of the top five complaints people have when they go see their doctor,” Dr. Christopher Winter, medical director at Charlottesville Neurology & Sleep Medicine, said.
Health experts are pointing to our lifestyles, busy schedules, grueling long work hours, and bright laptop and televisions screens at night.
“Based upon our 24-hour culture, and the number of things we have at our disposal at three o’clock in the morning, there are a lot more distractions,” Winter said.
We are not taking sleep seriously, and many struggle to find enough hours in the day to sleep.
Depriving yourself of sleep has lasting consequences on your body and is associated with a number of chronic diseases and conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity and depression.
Winter says sleep is vital for our minds and bodies to work correctly.
“There are not too many things, that sleep doesn’t either have a positive or negative impact on,” he said.
Sleep and moods are also closely connected. After a sleepless night, you may be more irritable, short-tempered, stressed out and mentally exhausted.
And sleep deprivation can put a damper on your ability to appreciate the better moments of life.
“When you look at research about individuals that are poorly slept, 18 positive things will happen to them during the day and one negative thing,” Winter said. “Lack of sleep really forces our brain to focus on that negative thing versus when we sleep well we sort of dismiss the negative and sort of focus on the positive.”
The CDC recommends seven or more hours of sleep but Winter says that’s the not the case for everyone. People must listen to their body to find the right number of hours needed to wake up feeling refreshed.
“We can talk in averages, the average person needs eight hours of sleep at night but that not be specific to what you need. Genetically, people do better with inappropriate amounts of sleep than other people,” Winter said.
And once you start getting the right amount of hours of sleep, the benefits are endless.
