Everyone, at one point in his or her lives, has suffered from not having enough sleep the previous night. You wake up feeling groggy, grumpy, and unmotivated to face the day. You also seem to yawn a lot during the day. However, regular lack of enough quality sleep goes beyond just having bleary eyes in the morning.

There are some serious side effects of sleep deprivation, which could take a toll on your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Sleep deprivation is so grave that has been used in the past as a form of torture. The lack of sleep pushes one over the edge in such instances and they end up spilling all the secrets to the enemy if just to get one minute of shuteye.

There is no universal definition of sleep deprivation because different people need different amounts of sleep. However, an individual is considered sleep deprived if they are getting less sleep than what they need to make them feel alert and awake during the day.

One serious side effect of sleep deprivation is that interferes with your emotional and cognitive functions. The first emotional impact of sleep deprivation is on positive emotions. People who are sleep deprived tend to stop displaying positive emotions on their faces. They see to always be grumpy and hardly smiles. They may say that they are happy but their facial expressions do not replicate the sentiments. In addition, sleep deprived individuals have a tough time detecting positive emotions in others, and they do not tolerate disappointment very well.

Another dangerous side of sleep deprivation is the constant occurrence of micro sleeps. Even a single night of sleep deprivation can result in one undergoing this phenomenon. Micro sleep is one where an individual falls into mini-snoozes for 30 seconds per sessions. Some people do not even close their eyes when they fall into a micro-sleep, but they are essentially blind because they cannot process any information during this time. During a micro-sleep session, the brain uncontrollably and rapidly falls into a sleep state, without any warning. One can force themselves to wake up, but will find themselves in another micro-sleep shortly afterwards. The condition is particularly hazardous if one is behind the wheel or handling heavy machinery.

Delirium is another dangerous side effect of sleep deprivation especially if lack of enough of sleep is a regular occurrence. Delirium is when an individual feels and acts completely disoriented, where they exhibit bizarre behaviors. Delirium has been observed in patients who are in the intensive care units. The lights and sounds in the ICU continue the entire day non-stop, which hinders the patients from sleeping. The patients experience a phenomenon known as ‘ICU delirium’ where patients behave irrationally and seem more irritable. When they are finally transferred from the ICU, their behaviors change as they achieve more quality sleep.

Hallucinations have also been known to occur in people who are not receiving enough sleep. Chronic sleep deprivation causes misperceptions and hallucinations in many people, where they see things that cannot possibly be there or imagine that they are having conversations with people, when in fact nothing of that sort is happening. Hallucinations are indications that the brain is not processing information clearly, because it is not getting as much rest as it needs in order to function properly.

Fortunately, most of these dangerous effects of sleep deprivation dissipate when one gets the necessary amount of sleep. In addition, what a better way to ensure you get a goodnight’s rest than a comfortable latex foam mattress? Purchase one at your favorite local store, and get ready for a night of comfort, no interruptions, and sweet dreams.