It isn’t exactly breaking news that sleep is important for well-being. You already know it’s not great to run on empty, especially for a prolonged amount of time. But if you are one of the one-third of American adults who get less than seven hours of sleep a night, you may be wondering how exactly it’s impacting your body.
As a sleep doctor here explains, not getting enough sleep has both short-term and long-term repercussions. Let it serve as motivation to get to the bottom of your sleep woes once and for all, starting with her recommended tips.
🩺 SIGN UP for tips to stay healthy & fit with the top moves, clean eats, health trends & more delivered right to your inbox twice a week 💊
How Not Sleeping Impacts Short-Term Health
There’s no sugar-coating it: “Missing out on sleep can cause a myriad of problems the next day,” says Dr. Mary Halsey Maddox, MD, a certified sleep doctor and owner of Sleep Dreams. Dr. Maddox points to a 2022 scientific study on young athletes showing that the day following a night of poor sleep led to changes in attention, concentration, speed and grip strength, noting, “This correlates with other studies that have demonstrated impaired reaction time and subjective sleepiness after one night of sleep deprivation.”
Dr. Maddox says that even just one night of less-than-optimal sleep can lead to poor decision-making the next day. “One night of sleep deprivation also tends to increase impulsivity, particularly to negative events,” she explained. “One night of sleep deprivation causes people to react rather than think rationally through things.”
Scientific research shows that poor sleep can lead to feeling tired the next day (not so surprising), poor memory function and a depressed mood. With this in mind, perhaps the idiom “waking up on the wrong side of the bed” stems from spending a night tossing and turning in it.
Related: Is 7 Hours of Sleep Enough? Experts Share the Truth
How Not Sleeping Impacts Long-Term Health
Consistently not getting enough sleep is what’s really detrimental to health. “In the sleep world, we call this ‘sleep debt.’ Much like a credit card, sleep deprivation builds in our bodies and exponentially impacts our health,” Dr. Maddox says. She explains that a few nights of bad sleep isn’t that big of a deal because the body can catch up, but months of consistently poor sleep is difficult to recover from.
“Long-term sleep deprivation in adults is associated with more motor vehicle accidents, high blood pressure, worse diabetes control, trouble with weight management, migraines and even cancer in some incidences, especially among shift workers,” Dr. Maddox warns. To her point, scientific research shows that people who consistently get less than six hours of sleep a night have a 43% higher risk of cancer than people who consistently get more than six hours of sleep a night.
Related: This Is the Most Important Habit To Have if You Want to Get 8 Hours of Sleep Tonight
Dr. Maddox says that one reason why lack of sleep can lead to health problems is because it interferes with hormone regulation. Another reason is because not getting enough sleep increases inflammation in the body, which can lead to a slew of health problems, including the ones Dr. Maddox called out.
Lack of sleep doesn’t just impact physical health; it affects mental health too. “Sleep is crucial for mental health,” Dr. Maddox emphasizes. “Not only does sleep deprivation lead to more anxiety, more negativity, more depression and poor coping skills, it also leads to an increase in suicide attempts and mania in those pre-disposed to bipolar disease. Not to mention, it is hard to remember to take your medicine or feel like exercising if you are sleep-deprived. Sleep is one of the primary things that mental health providers address regularly.”
Related: Sleep Experts Agree This Is the #1 Worst Habit for Sleep
Tips for Getting Better Sleep
Now that it’s clear how poor sleep impacts health both the following day and long-term comes the big question: What can you do about it? After all, if you could just will yourself to sleep, most people wouldn’t be up at night tossing and turning. Dr. Maddox says that if you are consistently having trouble getting quality sleep, one good place to start is by developing an evening routine and sticking to it. “Sleep is a learned behavior and we have to teach our bodies to sleep. My routine is to brush my teeth, read a book and go to bed,” she says, adding that she calls this routine the “three Bs.”
Another important step is ensuring that your bedroom is set up with sleep in mind. Dr. Maddox emphasizes that the bedroom should be used for sleep—not for watching TV, folding laundry or working. Consider making it a no-screen zone. After all, there is a strong correlation between screen time and trouble sleeping. “Stop scrolling. We all hear lots about blue light and it definitely makes a difference, so turn off the tablets, computers and phones an hour before bed. Put them up in another room. I have an alarm set on my phone to remind me,” Dr. Maddox advises.
If you have no idea how to spend your time without looking at your phone, TV or tablet, Dr. Maddox recommends reading a book or listening to music, a podcast or an audiobook. Experiment to see what’s most enjoyable for you.
Don’t minimize the importance of getting good sleep. The occasional restless night won’t impact your overall health too much, but the long-term effects of consistently not getting enough sleep are serious. Getting to the bottom of your sleep problems is one of the best ways to care for yourself. You’ll be both healthier and happier.
Up Next:
Related: 6 Sleep Aids that May Be Better than Counting Sheep
Sources
- Dr. Mary Halsey Maddox, MD, certified sleep doctor and owner of Sleep Dream
- “Prevalence and Geographic Patterns of Self-Reported Short Sleep Duration Among US Adults, 2020.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- “Sleep and the Young Athlete.” Sports Health. 2022
- “The Effect of Sleep Deprivation on Choice Reaction Time and Anaerobic Power of College Student Athletes.” Asian Journal of Sports Medicine. 2012
- “Extent and Health Consequences of Chronic Sleep Loss and Sleep Disorders.” National Library of Medicine.
- “Sleep deficiency in motor vehicle crash risk in the general population: a prospective cohort study.” BMC Medicine. 2018
- “The association between sleep deprivation and arterial pressure variations: a systematic literature review.” Sleep Medicine X. 2022
- “Sleep Duration and Diabetes Risk: Popular Trends and Potential Mechanisms.” Current Diabetes Reports. 2017
- “Sleep and obesity.” Current Opinion in Clinical & Metabolic Care. 2013
- “Are Sleep Difficulties Associated With Migraine Attributable to Anxiety and Depression?” Headache. 2008
- “Sleep duration and risk of overall and 22-site specific cancers: A Mendelian randomized study.” International Journal of Cancer. 2020
- “Lack of sleep: Can it make you sick?” Mayo Clinic
- “The adverse impact of excessive smartphone screen-time on sleep quality among young adults: A prospective cohort.” Sleep Science. 2021