Having one bad night’s sleep can ruin your day, but having consecutive nights of bad sleep or continued sleeplessness, trouble falling asleep or chronic insomnia can ruin much more than that. It can lead to physical and mental health issues.
In this blog, Dr Lindsay Browning explains the effects a bad night’s sleep can have on our health and what we can do to try to ensure that we get more good nights of sleep, than bad.
The effects of a bad night’s sleep
A one-off bad night is not the end of the world. However, if you are regularly struggling to sleep, being disturbed or struggling to get good quality sleep, then the effects on your health and every day life can be detrimental.
Read on to explore the different effects of a bad night’s sleep and what to consider to improve the quality of your sleep.
Bad sleep and weight gain
When we don’t get enough sleep, we not only eat more calories, but we also choose foods that are not as good for us.
There are two neurotransmitters that control appetite – ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin makes you feel hungry, while leptin helps you feel full.
When you don’t sleep enough, studies show that you have increased levels of ghrelin and decreased levels of leptin. This results in you feeling hungrier and having to eat more food before you feel full, which in turn can lead to weight gain.
Also, when you are awake for longer, evidence suggests you have the opportunity to eat more calories.
Bad sleep and problems at work
It may seem obvious but a link can also be drawn between consistent problems with sleep, i.e. insomnia, and an increased risk of accidents at work and on the road.
Furthermore, bad sleep can lead individuals to struggle to concentrate at work. Those who are not sleeping well are also more likely to take time off from work, due to sickness and ill health.
Bad sleep and illness
If we do not get enough sleep, evidence also shows that our immune system can become impaired.
A 2019 study demonstrated that the sleeping brain also has waves of cerebrospinal fluid that wash through it during sleep. Its role is to wash away amyloid plaques, which are linked to Alzheimer’s disease. If you don’t get enough sleep then your brain won’t have time to do this ‘physical cleaning’ and the amyloid plaques may build up, increasing the likelihood of you getting Alzheimer’s disease.
In addition, it appears that a lack of deep sleep is also associated with an increased risk of dementia. However, it is not clear whether the dementia causes a reduction in deep sleep or the reduction in deep sleep causes the dementia.
There are multiple studies showing that when someone has depression or anxiety, they have an increased risk of insomnia and vice versa. Whichever one you have, you will likely have an increase in the other. In addition, when someone has insomnia they are at an increased risk of suicide.
In opposition, studies have shown that people who slept better were less likely to be depressed. So, once again, good sleep shows itself to be very important for our mental and physical well-being
The benefits of a good night’s sleep
Firstly, let’s define what is a good night’s sleep. For a working age adult, the recommendations are that you should get between seven and nine hours sleep, per night. If you take a nap during the day, then your sleep needs that night will be reduced. Although these are the recommendations based on scientific studies, there are people who will need slightly less sleep and those who will need slightly more. The best way to tell if you are getting enough sleep is if you wake up feeling refreshed and do not feel sleepy during the day.
The benefits are numerous for regularly getting a good night’s sleep. Learn more in this related blog:
Why good quality sleep and regular sleep patterns are important
Good sleep hygiene and a good sleep routine will help you to get a better night’s sleep.
Good quality sleep consists of several full sleep cycles, each made of light sleep, deep sleep and dreaming sleep, rather than fragmented sleep.
We cannot fully catch up on lost sleep and, therefore, a feast and famine approach to getting enough sleep each night is never a good plan. We function much better when we get sufficient sleep every day of the week, rather than just trying to catch up on sleep at the weekends.
Struggling with bad sleep or tiredness?
If you are struggling with regular bad nights of sleep or having difficulty getting off to sleep, then book a 15 minute introductory call. We can have a short discovery session to uncover what may be causing your lack of sleep; poor quality of sleep or regular feelings of tiredness, and if we can help you.
Let’s make a bad night’s sleep rare not regular.