At its worst, sleep deprivation can interfere with your daily life and diminish your ability to function at your best. It can lead to low moods and reduce positivity. According to the National Sleep Foundation, this is caused by decreased brain activity and long-term sleep deprivation can actually alter your memory, learning and concentration abilities.
Lack of sleep can also reduce your ability to cope with stressful situations and can lower your immune system, leaving you vulnerable to all kinds of unpleasant minor illnesses, as well as a general feeling of being ’run down’. Lack of sleep can also make it difficult to control your emotions, leading to associated problems such as anxiety, depression, irritability and anger issues.
During sleep, your body is doing important tasks, and when you do not get enough sleep, these tasks – such as hormone regulation – cannot be carried out adequately. As you sleep, your brain rests and replenishes its energy stores and repairs any damaged cells. Only sleep can help repair these types of minor cell damage and if you get inadequate sleep then these repairs cannot happen.
Sleep has even been shown to help prevent accidents, as those who are well rested are more likely to be fully in control of their reaction speeds, and can react quicker to anything that may occur during the day.