We all like to miss a night of sleep every now and then. Ok, maybe not completely skipping sleep, but catching just two hours of zzzzs doesn't really count as getting proper rest. We're still young and sometimes the fun with our group of friends seems to just be beginning when our body calls for sleep, so who could blame us for sticking around? Well, we obviously share the feeling, but let's take a look at what science says happens whenever we don't sleep enough. Some of these effects are just entertaining to read, and some may actually cause you to think twice about the second sleepless night in a week.
1. It makes you stupid
Yup, that's right: lack of sleep actually makes you measurably dumber, in a proven way. Your short term memory (which is usually consolidated during sleep) will get hurt and function at a slower and 'foggier' pace, and so will attention, concentration, problem solving skills, critical thinking etc.
2. Lowered libido
If that's not enough reason for concern, we don't know what is. What's worse is that the effect seems to stack up: if you tend to lose a lot of sleep regularly, you may actually become a bit sexually dysfunctional.
3. It causes heart problems
The risk of various heart problems (including serious and sudden ones such a stroke) is greatly increased after each night of getting too little sleep.
4. It causes accidents
Chances are, whenever you hear about freaky accidents or chain accidents or anything else you may find remarkable in your newsfeed, it may have all started with some dude who didn't get enough sleep. Lack of proper movement coordination and so on, you know.
5. It makes you confused
Let's just say that if fairytale dwarf names were still acceptable, you would definitely be called 'Forgetful' by all your buddies after one sleepless night. You may not realize just how annoying all your striving for words can be when you're that tired, but trust us, all your friends do notice.
6. It makes you depressed (and possibly a drama queen too)
Being sleep deprived modifies your brain chemistry in just the most awful ways. Depression and unstoppable complaining are just the most obvious effects.
7. It makes you look bad
Your usual handsome self will be replaced by a baggy-eyed, tired fellow, but that's not all: science proves that actually, your skin is more prone to aging and generally looks bad as well, after a sleepless night.
8. It impairs your judgement
Losing sleep is proven to lead to a chain of bad decisions, both from the point of view of your health, and in general. Constant lack of sleep will just set you on a downward spiral of self-destruction (ok, a bit of an over-emphasis there, but you get the point.
9. It makes you fat
Your body will attempt to gain back your energy and compensate for the lack of sleep by over-eating, and your appetite may be seriously unbalanced even after you recover the missed sleep.
10. It can cause you to die (no, seriously)
Yes, perhaps this is the most not-funny effect from the list: a recent study has proven that cutting your number of sleeping hours from seven to five (or fewer) can double up your risk of dying from all possible causes. Holy cow!
Image source: here.
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