Sleep problem is so bad that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has described it as a ‘sleep loss epidemic’ with two thirds of adults in developed nations not getting the recommended 8 hours of sleep a night.
In its simplest terms, those of us who have the capacity to have a good night’s sleep just aren’t sleeping enough.
In the US, 35% of adults are not getting 8 hours of sleep every night. In Canada it is 30% and in the UK it is 37%. In Japan, the average time spent asleep is just 6 hours and 22 minutes.
The negative effects of lack of sleep
Sleep deprivation is just really bad for us. Lack of sleep has a lot of negative effects on our physical and mental health.
These include:
Getting more stressed out
High blood pressure
Slower reaction time
Focus and your attention span diminishes
Lower sex drive
More prone to bursts of anger and sadness
Less creative and mentally exhausted
Judgement becomes impaired
Immune system gets weaker
Becoming more forgetful
Getting easily distracted
Higher chance of heart disease and stroke
More at risk of getting diabetes
Gaining more weight
Benefits of sleep (that you never realized)
You’ll be happier.
It sharpens your attention span.
It improves your memory.
It promotes healthy muscle building.
It can affect your weight, for the better.
It helps reduce stress.
You will have healthier skin.
It boosts immunity from sickness.
It makes us less accident prone.
You’ll become more focused and productive.
It reduces your chance of getting diabetes.
Source:
https://www.lifehack.org/785436/benefits-of-sleep