How Sleep Deprivation Affects You and Your Mental Health

Sleep deprivation can seriously affect all parts of your body - physically and mentally. You weaken your immune system. You can become more vulnerable to respiratory infections.

Sleep deprivation can cause digestive issues that result in weight gain, and possible diabetes issues. Along with weight gain, you are at risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.

Sleep deprivation impairs you mentally with memory issues, cognitive function, moodiness, hallucinations, depression, that can make you more accident prone, and yes, it can even result in accidental death.

NOTE: If you drive or do anything else that can cause injury to you or someone else, it can be devastating. 

According to the Sleep Association Organization, Sleep Deprivation is defined as not getting adequate total sleep.

Even though relatively few studies have been done on total lack of sleep over a long period of time in humans, long term sleep deprivation in lab animals has resulted in death.

What is a Typical Night for You?

• Fall asleep but wake an hour or so later, check the clock, roll over, try to sleep? Toss and turn, check the clock again? A never ending cycle until the morning alarm sounds?

• Ready for bed, but when the lights are out, you can't sleep? You toss and turn, dozing fitfully until the morning alarm blares?

• Working late into the night, ignoring your body's cries for sleep?
  
  Forcing yourself to stay awake with caffeine-laden beverages? Your body's desires for sleep overcome your desire to stay awake, yet you feel like you didn't sleep at all?

• Your mind won't stop recycling the day's events, tomorrow's possibilities, or random racing thoughts that won't go away and keep you awake?

What are the Effects of Sleep Deprivation?

If you experience long term sleep deprivation you can begin to hallucinate or trigger a mania episode in those with Bipolar Disorder. Other psychological risks include: impulsive behavior, depression, paranoia and/or suicidal thoughts.

Other affects on your body can include:

• Excessive Daytime Sleepiness
• Accidents from Lack of Attention
• Moodiness
• Hunger
• Other Health Dangers such as:

• Diabetes

• Cognitive Impairment

• Suppressed Growth Hormones

• Memory Lapses

• Depression

• Weight Gain or Loss

Read this article about how Sleep Deprivation affects your body.

For more information, read Effects of Sleep Deprivation on the Body

Read this article to learn the 11 Signs You're Sleep Deprived.


Have You Tried These to Help Fall Asleep?

• Prescription sleep medication?
• Over-the-Counter sleep medication?
• A Sound Machine or Room Air Filtration System?
• Something Herbal like Melatonin? Valerian? Chamomile?
• Meditation?
• A warm bath?
• Reading a book?
• Playing a game (or six) on your Smart Phone?
• Tea or Warm Milk?
• Self-Hypnosis?
• Letting the TV stay on?
• Listening to music?
• Something else not listed here?

Did you know that overuse of some OTC Sleep Medications can actually cause you to get less sleep?


What Can Cause Sleep Deprivation?

• Sleep Disorders that reduce Sleep Time such as Sleep Apnea, Insomnia, Restless Legs Syndrome, others

• Poor Sleep Hygiene

• Sleep Disorders that Interfere with Brain's ability to Stay Awake such as Narcolepsy or Primary Hypersomnia

• Insufficient Total Sleep Time

Are there Some Positive Ways to Help Eliminate Sleepiness if You Suffer from Sleep Deprivation? From 10 Best Treatments and Cures for Sleep Deprivation

Sleep - Too obvious, right?

Activity - Research studies have shown that a five-minute walk can improve excessive daytime sleepiness as measured by multiple sleep latency testing (MSLT). Unfortunately, this increased alertness may be a transient benefit that comes and goes rather quickly. 

Bright Light - The exposure to bright light has important effects on your body's circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm is a pattern of body functions, including sleep and wakefulness, that is timed to the day-night cycle. There are some conditions such as seasonal affective disorder (SAD)and circadian rhythm sleep disorders that are helped by appropriately timed exposure to bright light. In addition, bright light may help you become more alert if you are sleep deprived.

Noise - When we hear something, our brain responds by making us slightly more alert. This can be problematic when we have a noisy sleep environment, but it can be helpful if we are trying to stay awake.

Temperature - Unfortunately, there is little evidence to suggest that temperature changes do much to improve our alertness and decrease excessive sleepiness. Studies of extreme temperatures (either very hot or very cold) have an effect for only a few minutes. 

Posture - Surely it is harder to fall asleep when you are standing up, so posture clearly can have some beneficial effects on sleep deprivation. 

Caffeine - Aside from simply getting more sleep, the best single treatment for sleep deprivation may be caffeine. This naturally occurring stimulant is found in many common foods and drinks, including coffee, tea, soda pop, energy drinks, and chocolate.

Stimulants - Aside from caffeine, there are other stimulants available as prescription and over-the-counter drugs that might be helpful in alleviating the symptoms of sleep deprivation.

Motivation - You might consider that you are more likely to stay alert and attentive if you actually care about the activities you are engaged in. A boring lecture or meeting at work may be just the thing to put you right to sleep. However, spending time with your loved ones or pursuing a favored hobby may keep you wide awake, at least in the short term. 

Group Effects - There is some belief among anthropologists that the effects of sleep deprivation may be lessened when they occur in the context of a group. You might imagine that a handful of sleep-deprived people are able to engage one another in ways to maintain alertness.


What are the Treatments for Sleep Deprivation?

Get more sleep!

Easier said than done, right?

The best answer is to treat the cause of the Sleep Deprivation. Is it a sleep disorder? You won't know unless you see a sleep specialist who can diagnose your sleep condition. I suggest if you are experiencing sleep deprivation, you see a sleep specialist immediately. They can rule out other medical issues, find the cause, and treat the real reason for sleep deprivation. Then, you can experience that benefits of adequate sleep and wake refreshed and ready to tackle your day.

Photos Courtesy of Storyblocks

Mental Health Series - PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) 

Recently I went through a PTSD crisis. It occurred because of a trigger that happened several weeks ago. A couple of days after that trigger, another trigger occurred. Then, a couple of days later, another trigger occurred. They weren't monumental triggers like having the same traumatic event happen. They were triggers of telling the event in various ways and talking about it to fill out some disability paperwork. Then the next trigger was a personal lesson during bible study. The third trigger was just a discussion on forgiveness.  Just a simple word and a simple non-related discussion.

However, each event built upon the other causing very serious symptoms in me. I became anxious, increasingly emotional, flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, loss of desire to be with others, lack of ability to concentrate on activities, and eventually a series of panic attacks that escalated throughout the two weeks I attempted to cope with it on my own, until I ended up in the psychiatric ward of the hospital for intense, immediate and safe treatment. Especially, because I started having suicidal thoughts.

I'm out of the hospital now, but I'm not "cured." I'm not over the PTSD crisis. It's still there. But, I'm better able to cope because of the skills I learned while hospitalized, the addition of a mood stabilizer, and a medication to help me sleep. All of these combined, still do not make the PTSD crisis go away. I still need to work with my psychiatrist and my therapist to develop a treatment plan. Hopefully, this plan will include EMDR therapy. I've had EMDR therapy before, but it was nearly six years ago. Because the of the intensity of the triggers, I believe another session is required. 

When someone is feeling threatened, a “flight or fight” response is triggered that protects them from harm. However, in someone with PTSD, the “flight or fight” response is changed or damaged in some way. Someone with PTSD can feel stressed or frightened even when there is no threat of danger.

How does PTSD develop? 
PTSD usually develops after a terrifying, horrific ordeal that either involved physical harm or the threat of physical harm. Usually the person who develops PTSD may have been the one to be harmed, or the harm could have happened to a loved one, or the person who develops PTSD could have witnessed a harmful event that happened to a loved one or even to strangers. These result in the person developing Fear Memories.

Even though PTSD was first brought to the public’s attention by war veterans, PTSD can result from a variety of traumatic events: assault, muggings, rape, torture, kidnapped, held captive, child abuse (physical/sexual), childhood neglect, sudden death of a loved one, car accidents, train wrecks, plane crashes, terrorist attacks, bombings, or some kind of natural disaster such as flood or earthquake.

The person involved in the event can develop PTSD or other people can be affected who have to pick up the pieces of the tragic event afterwards such as: emergency workers, law enforcement officers, friends, and/ or family.

PTSD development varies from person to person. Symptoms can occur within hours or days of an event, it can sometimes take weeks, months, or even years before the symptoms actually appear.

How are Fear Memories created? 
Scientists are currently working on studying genes that play a role in creating fear memories. Like other mental disorders, it is likely many genes with small effects are at work in PTSD: (Stathmin, GRP, 5-HTTLPR)

What are the causes of PTSD? 
While scientists study the brain and fear and stress to determine the causes of PTSD, environmental factors are also considered: childhood trauma, head injury, or a history or mental illness.

How common is PTSD?
Although it’s been said that any of us can suffer from PTSD given the right circumstances, it’s estimated that approximately 5% of men and 10% of women suffer from PTSD at some point in their lives.

What are the signs or symptoms of PTSD?
PTSD can cause many symptoms. These symptoms are grouped in three categories: 

1. Re-experiencing Symptoms
2. Avoidance and Numbing Symptoms
3. Increased Anxiety and Emotional Arousal Symptoms

What symptoms do the three categories have? 
1. Re-Experiencing the Traumatic Event

• Intrusive, upsetting memories of the event 
• Flashbacks, (acting or feeling like the event is happening again) 
• Nightmares (either of the event or of other frightening things) 
• Feelings of intense distress when reminded of the event 
• Intense physical reactions to reminders of the event (such as: pounding heart, rapid breathing, nausea, muscle tension, sweating) 

 2. Avoidance and Numbing

• Avoiding activities, places, thoughts, or feelings that remind you of the trauma 
• Inability to remember important aspects of the trauma 
• Loss of interest in activities and life in general 
• Feeling detached from others and emotionally numb 
• Sense of limited future (you don’t expect to live a normal life span, get married, have a career) 

 3. Increased Anxiety and Emotional Arousal

• Difficulty falling or staying asleep 
• Irritability or outbursts of anger 
• Difficulty concentrating 
• Hyper-vigilance (on constant “red alert”) 
• Feeling jumpy and easily startled 

 Other common symptoms of PTSD include: anger and irritability, guilt, shame, or self-shame, substance abuse, feelings of mistrust and betrayal, depression and hopelessness, suicidal thoughts and feelings, feeling alienated and alone, and physical aches and pains.

Who is at risk for PTSD?
Although it’s impossible to predict who will develop PTSD in response to any trauma in their life, there are certain risk factors that can increase your vulnerability.

• Previous traumatic experiences, especially in early life 
• Family history of PTSD or depression 
• History of physical or sexual abuse 
• History of substance abuse 
• History of depression, anxiety, or another mental illness 
• High level of stress in every day life 
• Lack of support after the trauma 
• Lack of coping skills 

What are the treatments for PTSD? 
Education plays a big part of treating others for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It helps to provide information about the illness to help the person manage their symptoms. Psychological and medical help is also given to those with PTSD. When receiving education about PTSD, the person who suffers from PTSD will learn about others, their traumas, and that it is caused by stress rather than weakness in the person involved.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is an important part of using therapy to help those with PTSD. This many even be combined with group therapy. It helps people who suffer from PTSD to recognize and adjust their trauma-related thoughts.

Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), a form of cognitive therapy, has been found to be extremely successful in helping those with PTSD. It works by the person with PTSD talking about the trauma they suffered and the negative feelings they associate with the event, while focusing on a rapidly moving object or a tone while wearing headphones.

Medications are also helpful. They help the various environmental and/or physical symptoms demonstrated by the person with PTSD, such as serotonergic antidepressants. Other medications such as mood stabilizers and antipsychotics have also been found to be helpful.

Those with PTSD who maintain their medical regime are less likely to experience a relapse of their illness if the antidepressant treatment is continued for at least a year.

When should someone who suspects PTSD see a doctor? 
If symptoms occur for more than a month, it may mean the person is suffering from PTSD. It doesn’t necessarily mean you have PTSD if you’ve experienced a traumatic event and suffered some occasional fear and anxiety, lack of concentration, sadness or changes in sleeping or eating habits, or even bouts of crying. However, if the symptoms are severe enough to impede the person’s ability to get back to a normal life he / she should see a medical professional. If the symptoms are so strong that someone in the person’s life such as a friend or family member feel that they may harm themselves, seek medical attention immediately.

I should have let my psychiatrist and therapist know immediately how severely affected I was due to the PTSD triggers. It's possible, the right treatment could have been started immediately, thus, avoiding an Emergency trip to the hospital resulting in hospitalization.

I beg you. If you or someone you know experiences anything like what I've described here in this article, please seek professional help immediately. Don't wait. It only makes the situation worse.



 Image Copyright: unkreatives / 123RF Stock Photo

Anxiety - Do I or Don't I? - Guest Post

When the experts do not agree then what chance do we have?

As a suffer Living with anxiety and a panic disorder then I have always considered it my business to inform myself as much as is possible about my disorder including the why, how and now. So with so much conflicting information out there how is anyone ever going to get the best available knowledge to best formulate their own recovery and support program that will lead them to the best possible outcome. When experts disagree on what’s best for us, what does that say about our chances of recovery?

Why:
Let’s first deal with the why question? OK why me, how come I have anxiety but many of my other sister do not? The experts say that if someone in your family has suffered with anxiety, depression or any other mental illness then you are at a 40% greater risk on having one yourself. Along with this we are told again by the experts that if you experience childhood trauma then that also increases your risk factor of suffering a mental illness again by another 40%. So in my own case as my mother was suffering with her nerves back then I fall into the first risk category but then I also experienced the murder of my brother when I was four and he was nineteen and this increased my risk by the same amount again. Yet only one sister and myself were ever diagnosed with a mental health problem. All the rest of my family are fine (there were eight of us). How come? The answer is the experts do not really know. This is the problem. How can we prevent instead of cure mental health problems when you are not really sure what causes them in the first place. And if I’m trying to inform myself then how does this help in my choices as regards recovery?

How:
So by the age of four I had more than an 80% risk of developing a mental health condition, so how come nobody did anything to help me back then (I was seventeen before I got a diagnosis). And even today there are thousands of children who fall into the same risk category and they too are being overlooked. This is not a blame game, no it’s much more important than that. It is much too serious and needs to be addressed in our schools, our homes and our communities. No vulnerable children should have to seek out help, no instead there should be trained personal who can pick up on the signs of a disturbed, distressed or symptomatic child. Intervention and prevention are always better than a cure. Also we will have to deal at some stage with the labeling of our children/teenagers when that are so young so as to not let their diagnosis become a stumbling block for future employment. 

Disagreement and pseudo-science:


The now:
Now the experts disagree among themselves as regards treatments because they are lacking in so many area’s that people suffering with a mental illness are unable to decide what’s best for them by way of treatment options. 

Let’s just take the concept that mental illness is in fact caused by a chemical imbalance yet we all know, have read and seen very compelling videos to point to the contrary of this premise. We know there is no measurable way to check the chemicals imbalance in any persons brain much less tell us at what levels they should be. So how am I the suffer, supposed to make an informed decision on what’s best for me in the first place. And if the medication you are giving me is supposed to regulate my imbalance when you clearly can’t prove that I am actually suffering from one then I’m taking medication that will not help me at best and may harm or even kill me at worst. 

Is it any wonder we find suffers of mental illness in prison, in hospital or in the graveyard. Because the treatment is so poor an uncoordinated and good scientific information so sparse or too technical that you and I are unconvinced by what is truth and what is a lie. I’m not afraid to admit I’m in the middle on this one. I truly do not know why some people suffer with a mental illness while other do not. We have heard about genetics and the part our DNA plays in the different diseases people suffer and yet there is no mental illness gene identified that can explain my illness and your illness. The experts disagree about the part that nature and nurture play in a person becoming unwell with a mental health condition, and yet we think we are the ones who are mad. The only reason we are mad is for trusting them in the first place. We are not just trusting them with our treatment but with our future. Remember if they get it wrong then we might not have a future at all.

Point of first contact is so important:
A person suffering with a mental health condition first contact will most likely be there doctor or the emergency department. Neither of these is fully qualified in the best treatments of mental illness and as we know making a diagnosis is pretty much a hit and a miss affair. Because if you lie about how you feel and what you are experiencing then how on earth is the doctor supposed to diagnosis you. Your diagnosis depends on how you answer some questions not on some blood test or x-ray results so it’s an inexact science and you and me are at its mercy. Very often we are used as patients in an experiment for our doctors and while they learn we suffer. Also in our support group when I asked the members did they tell the doctor on their first visit the true extent of how they were really feeling then they all answered “no we did not in order not to embarrass themselves”.
In my own experience I use the following to stay well:
• Prayer and faith
• Mindfulness daily
• Plenty of rest
• Cycling for an hour and half daily
• Eat healthy foods
• Hobbies, including reading and listing to music
• Work
• Walking in nature
• Medication (Lustral)

I do all of the above daily and it helps me attain a high level of function but I do not have faith in any one single item, instead each person has to develop a personal recovery and support program tailored to their individual needs rather than on what worked best for someone else. We owe it to ourselves to be the very best we can be while still living with an illness that by all accounts should disable us. But tonight this is my prayer:

Please let the so called experts put away their individual vested interest and the making of money on the backs of those who has already suffered enough and come together and formulate an agreed treatment program where our first point of contact whether it be the emergency department, our doctor, a therapist or any other medical professional can deliver the very best practices available to us to relieve our suffering and allowing us contribute to society like everyone else. You the professionals and the medical community owe it to us as many of you have gotten rich off our suffering.

Is this what you call professional?
I have no axe to grind with any medical professional but the word professional to me makes you responsible to deliver the best treatment possible based on the best available scientific facts and not on tradition, past practices, mumbo jumbo, sudo science and if you do not have enough information then stop calling yourself a professional because when I was a teenager and you were learning a trade we called this an apprenticeship. So if you don’t know what you’re doing and the science is not there to back it up, then tell me straight out so I can make up my own mind what treatments I will submit myself to in order for you to learn.

When I trained as a Healthcare Assistant we were told autonomy was the most important aspect to patient care. In other words the patient was to be treated as an adult, informed, comforted and allow make choices for themselves. At present with so little verifiable scientific fact then it’s impossible for a patient to make up their mind as to the best treatment to bring about recover. This is not our fault. 

To finish I would just say the following: The Hippocratic oath a doctor takes states “he or she is to do good” but just as importantly is the part that states “he or she is to do no harm”. Can you really say that if you don’t know all the facts? No I think not. Please get your act together, stop the squabbling, self-interest and help us the way we deserve. 

This is not a rant, no I’m in too much control for that rather I hope like all my posts this generates a discussion on others personal experiences and how we as a community might better inform and advise our fellow suffers of the pitfalls before they become victims of the medical merry go round that some of us have experiences. For now as always have a great day. Looking forward to your comments. Thanks

Michael Groves