The Psychological Effects of Sleep Deprivation

Introduction

Sleep is the process in which humans and other animals periodically rest, with
greater or lesser degrees of unconsciousness and decreased responsiveness to the
surrounding world. Sleep is a recurring state of relaxation that is characterized by an
altered state of consciousness, inhibited sensory activity, muscular inhibition, and
severely reduced interaction with outside entities. The purpose of which is to give rest
to brain (Barrios, 1992). Sleep is an interruption in the normal stream of
consciousness. For infants and children, sleep is very important because there are
growth hormones that reach their peak concentration in the blood during sleep (Teh &
Macapagal, 2007). This is why young children are admonished to get a lot of sleep, as
it can facilitate their growth. Some studies (Stickgold, James, & Hobson, 2000) have
found that sleep can help strengthen memory associations, and thus, serves the
function of consolidating memories. Sleep is essential to the healthy development of
adolescents and young adults, as well as their success at school and in the workplace.
For a long time, researches believed that sleep occurs due the absence of adequate
sensory simulation to keep the brain awake. A person falls asleep because brain
activity slows down. Theorist who follows this line of thinking proposed that there is
internal activating system in the reticular formation that activates the brain during the
day, thus keeping it awake. When the so called activating system gets tired or when
there is an accumulation of sleep toxin that slows down the activating system, sleep
is induced (Ticao, 2001). Two contemporary theories explain why we sleep: repair
theory and ecological theory. Proponents of the repair theory suggest that sleep allows
the body and the brain to replenish, restore, and rebuild after being worn out during
the waking hours. The ecological theory is based on an evolutionary approach. It
states that the primary purpose of sleep is to prevent animals wasting their energy and
bringing harm to themselves during the time of day or night to which they have not
adapted. This more recent views argues that primitive people did not adapt to roaming
during night time because of the possible danger awaits them like fierce animals
prowling in the dark. Both repair and ecological theories offer convincing arguments.
Sleep keeps us out trouble and helps replenish lost energy during wakefulness and
increases as an organism’s chances of surviving (Ticao, 2001). Sleep is only good
and beneficial to that degree of the rest that it affords all the brain and all of the body.

On the other hand, Sleep deprivation is defined as not obtaining adequate total
sleep. It is the condition of not having enough sleep; it can be either chronic or acute.
A chronic sleep-restricted state can cause fatigue, daytime sleepiness, clumsiness
and weight loss or weight gain. It adversely affects the brain and cognitive function.
Mild sleep deprivation does not cause serious impairment but chronic deprivation
does. The range of impairment varies from feeling sleepy and irritable to having
headaches, feeling unmotivated, suffering body aches and pains, and generally feeling
“stressed out.” Chronic sleep loss affects our cardiovascular health, our energy
balance and our ability to fight infections. The exact amount of sleep varies from
individual to individual. Almost adults need to sleep at least seven hours a night
(Carskadon, 1993). However, lack of sleep appears to be a facet of modern life. For
example, increasing numbers of teenagers spend less time sleeping. This is promoted
by modern lifestyles where teenagers are increasingly drawn to socialize or watch
television up to the wee hours of the morning. Sleep experts in the United States report
that 25 percent of the adolescents fall asleep in the school at least once a week, while
10 percent attribute their tardiness in school to oversleeping. Increasing numbers of
vehicular accidents are caused by driver’s lack of sleep (Ticao, 2001).

The dangers of sleep deprivation are apparent on the road; the American
Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) reports that one in every five serious motor
vehicle injuries is related to driver fatigue, with 80,000 drivers falling asleep behind the
wheel every day and 250,000 accidents every year related to sleep, though the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggests the figure for traffic
accidents may be closer to 100,000 (Siri, 2001). According to a 2000 study published
in the British Medical Journal, researchers in Australia and New Zealand reported that
sleep deprivation can have some of the same hazardous effects as being drunk
(Williamson & Feyer, 2000). People who drove after being awake for 17–19 hours
performed worse than those with a blood alcohol level of .05 percent, which is the legal
limit for drunk driving in most western European countries and Australia. Another study
suggested that performance begins to degrade after 16 hours awake, and 21 hours
awake was equivalent to a blood alcohol content of .08 percent, which is the blood
alcohol limit for drunk driving in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K. (Dawson & Reid,
1997).

In the Philippines the country scores a low 61 points out of a possible 100 in
the 2016 Healthy Living Index, the third wave of AIA’s landmark survey of over 10,000
adults per wave across 15 markets in Asia Pacific. With improvements in Healthy
Living Index scores for some of the other markets, the Philippines slips from 6th to
9th rank amongst 15 markets. Mr. Aibee Cantos, Philam Life Chief Executive Officer
said, “The lack of improvement in the Philippines’ Healthy Living Index score is
alarming and it is important to know why. One of the factors in Understanding Filipinos’
Perception on Healthy Living is that the adults in the Philippines among the most sleep
deprived in the region. Getting sufficient sleep is one the most important driver of
health, according to adults in the Philippines as well as their counterparts across the
region. While Filipino adults would ideally like to get 8.2 hours of sleep a night, in reality
they only sleep 6.8 hours on average. This sleep deficit of 1.4 hours is one of the
highest among the 15 markets. The study shows that Filipinos have one of the highest
rates of sleep deprivation in Asia. According to the survey, 46% do not get enough
sleep and 32% said that they only sleep for less than six hours. While many factors
contribute to lack of enough sleep, it becomes more alarming when a person’s sleep
pattern is often disrupted beyond his control.

The Psychological Effects of Sleep Deprivation

Discussion

Sleep deprivation can adversely function. A 2000 study, by the University Of

California San Diego School Of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System
in San Diego, used functional magnetic resonance imaging technology to monitor
activity in the brains of sleep-deprived subjects performing simple verbal learning
tasks. The study showed that regions of the brain's prefrontal cortex displayed more
activity in sleepier subjects. Depending on the task at hand, the brain would sometimes
attempt to compensate for the adverse effects caused by sleep deprivation.
The temporal lobe which is a brain region involved in language processing, was
activated during verbal learning in rested subjects but not in sleep-deprived subjects.
A 2001 study at Chicago Medical Institute suggested that sleep deprivation may be
linked to serious diseases, such as heart disease and mental illnesses including
psychosis and bipolar disorder. The link between sleep deprivation and psychosis was
further documented in 2007 through a study at Harvard Medical School and the
University of California at Berkeley. The study revealed, using MRI scans, that sleep
deprivation causes the brain to become incapable of putting an emotional event into
the proper perspective and incapable of making a controlled, suitable response to the
event.
The negative effects of sleep deprivation on alertness and cognitive
performance suggest decreases in brain activity and function, primarily in the
thalamus, structure involved in alertness and attention, and in the prefrontal cortex, a
region sub-serving alertness, attention, and higher-order cognitive processes. People
who lack sleep become irritable, lose concentration, and show signs of stress (Webb,
1978). Performance of the physical tasks is also affected (Rodgers et al., 1995). A
noted 2002 University of California animal study indicated that non-rapid eye
movement sleep (NREM) is necessary for turning off neurotransmitters and allowing
their receptors to "rest" and regain sensitivity which allows monoamines to be effective
at naturally produced levels. This leads to improved regulation of mood and increased
learning ability. The study also found that rapid eye movement sleep (REM)
deprivation may alleviate clinical depression because it mimics selective serotonin
reuptake inhibitors . Sleep outside of the REM phase may allow enzymes to repair
brain cell damage caused by free radicals. High metabolic activity while awake
damages the enzymes themselves preventing efficient repair. This study observed the
first evidence of brain damage in rats as a direct result of sleep deprivation (Siegel,
2003). Animal studies suggest that sleep deprivation increases stress hormones,
which may reduce new cell production in adult brains. The sleep-deprived individual's
psyche experiences significant effects, as explored by Sleep Deprivation, Psychosis
and Mental Efficiency by Stanley Coren, Ph.D. Dr. Coren explains that recurrent lack
of sleep leads to a sleep debt that has physical and psychological ramifications.
Psychological problems that may occur happen in cognitive and emotional realms.
Simple mental tasks may become more difficult and perception may become distorted.
Perception, emotion and cognition can offer telltale signs that a problem exists.
Emotional impairments may be present as well when a person is unable to get
adequate rest. At their least problematic, the person experiences a tendency to
overreact to situations. Irritability and moodiness may be present. Perception problems
with severe lack of sleep may lead to hallucinations that are present in all five
senses. A person may see and feel insects crawling or hear someone speaking.
Hallucinations and distorted perception can put the individual at risk for
developing paranoia and delusional thinking. American Randy Gardner holds the
record for the longest ever scientifically documented intentional period without sleep.
Without the aid of stimulants, he managed to stay awake for 264.4 hours, or 11 days
and 24 minutes (Dement, 1978). He suffered paranoia, hallucinations, moodiness and
a whole host of psychological problems. Sleep deprivation may increase susceptibility
to false memories. Not getting enough sleep may increase the likelihood of forming
false memories, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal
of the Association for Psychological Science.

In a study conducted by psychological scientist Steven J. Frenda of the

University of California, Irvine and colleagues, sleep-deprived people who viewed
photographs of a crime being committed and then read false information about the
photos were more likely to report remembering the false details in the photos than
were those who got a full night’s sleep. Research has demonstrated that failing to get
a full eight hours interferes with cognitive functioning. Sleep deprivation can negatively
impact performance in professional fields as well, potentially jeopardizing lives. Due
largely to the February 2009 crash of a regional jet in Buffalo, NY, which killed 50
people and was partially attributed to pilot fatigue, which caused the FAA to review its
procedures to ensure pilots are sufficiently rested (Michaels, 2009). A 2004 study also
found medical residents with less than four hours of sleep a night made more than
twice as many errors as residents who slept for more than seven hours a night, an
especially alarming trend given that less than 11% of surveyed residents were
sleeping more than seven hours a night (Baldwinn, DeWitt, Daugherty, 2004).
According to study conducted by Francesco Cappuccio, head of Sleep, Health and
Society Program at the University of Warwick, United Kingdom - People who get less
than six hours sleep per night have an increased risk of dying prematurely. Those who
slumbered for less than that amount of time were 12 percent more likely to die early.
If a person sleeps little, he can develop diabetes, obesity, hypertension and high
cholesterol. The study conducted with the Federico II University in Naples, Italy,
aggregated a decade long studies from around the world involving more than 1.3
million people and found "unequivocal evidence of the direct link" between lack of
sleep and premature death.

The Psychological Effects of Sleep Deprivation

Analysis
 Webb calls sleep a gentle tyrant and this tyrant struggles to assert its right. A
person can go for long periods of sleeplessness without experiencing any real physical
or mental damage. But sleep is not just a bad habit that can be break if someone
wishes to. As Webb points out,”Sleep cannot be ignored or lost without worry or care,”
Sleep is a fundamental, built-in a way of behavior. It is not something we can choose
not to do, except for short periods of time. People simply aren’t in the best when they
are sleep deprived to any great extent. The studies into sleep deprivation clearly show
that even humans can suffer serious side effects from the lack of it. A pointer to sleep's
importance is babies' sleep patterns. Babies spend up to three times the amount of
time asleep that adults do, and spend as much as 8 hours in REM sleep, indicating
that such a vital stage in a person's development requires much more sleep than the
rest of our lives. It is now believed that the “quality of sleep directly affects the quality
of waking life, including productivity, emotional balance, creativity, physical vitality, and
even our weight.” Sleep is therefore an essential human need, not a luxury, because
it is in this state of rest that the brain oversees the great work of biological maintenance
to keep our bodies running in prime condition

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