On Sleep, or Not Getting Enough of It

Sometimes I forget what it feels like to dream because vivid dreams typically occur during REM cycles of sleep. I have gotten 7 hours of sleep for the last two nights, though, and I had the most incredible dreams. When I woke up this morning from a dream, I thought, "I need to get more sleep." Can you believe it? It's a sad state of affairs when dreams remind you that you haven't been getting enough sleep . . .

The CDC recently published an article about the effects of sleep deprivation: Effect of Short Sleep Duration on Daily Activities. A couple of friends forwarded it to me because it reminded them of me, and maybe in some way, they wanted to let me know what not getting enough sleep was doing to my body.

Here's the thing: I know what sleep deprivation does. I could've told the CDC what the short-term effects of sleep deprivation are, and then they wouldn't have had to spend the money on collecting and analyzing sleep data. I could have told them that not getting enough sleep leads to the following adverse health effects:

• Diminished ability to focus on a task, mental or physical
• Diminished ability to say no to sugary foods
• Neck and lower back soreness
• Unhealthy-looking skin
• Dark under-eye circles
• Itchy, dry eyes that can actually really, really hurt
  
• Problems going to the bathroom (Look, this is an honest list.)
• Dreamless sleep
  

Why do I continue to not get enough sleep, you ask? The honest answer is that I don't know why. Every night, I somehow think that not getting enough sleep will be okay. That I'm perfectly alert (well, almost) at 2 in the morning, and 5 hours is plenty of sleep. In fact, it's more than enough! Heck, while I'm at it, I'm doing pretty good; I may as well just watch one more episode of "30 Rock," or get one more TED Talk in. Also, I'm going to be so busy doing schoolwork tomorrow, I may as well get the nitty-gritty done tonight, such as cleaning my room. The list goes on and on.

You get used to functioning on minimal sleep, too. In fact, I'm convinced I could've been an emergency room surgeon because I'm so good at living on less sleep.

And yet, in the morning, when I'm covering the dark circles with concealer, I never fail to regret my lack of sleep. I never think, "Oh, that 4 hours of sleep was so good! I'm so prepared for the day now!" Similarly, I never regret getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep, even if it means I didn't get all of my homework done. The real kicker is this: If I am so good at living on less sleep, what could I accomplish if I were well-rested???

It's an interesting question, and I'm willing to investigate the answer. It's going to be a tough, actually. Really tough. Drug rehabilitation centers recommend that less than 90 days of treatment results in limited to no effect. I'll treat my sleep deprivation the same. I'm giving myself 90 days of treatment. It will be hard, considering that this is the last month and a half of the semester, but I'm going to try . . .

I'll let you know how it goes.


Thing I'm thankful for: my sisters