Declining Job Performance
When you’re constantly drowsy, focusing on your basic duties and the tasks in front of you is difficult. Sleep deprivation leads to scholastic failure, poor job performance in adults, and difficulties in other cognitive areas such as your memory.
Unnecessary Suffering
The odds are that more people are suffering from undiagnosed disorders than undergoing the proper treatment. For instance, someone living alone may be unknowingly suffering from sleep apnea. However, having the essential equipment to regulate your breathing can lessen the effects of sleep apnea, especially if you clean the equipment consistently.
Decreased Quality of Life
Individuals with sleep deprivation commonly experience poorer mental health due to little sleep and perpetual exhaustion. Such mental side effects include anxiety, restlessness, melancholy, irritability, and mood changes. These types of feelings may make someone feel low self-worth, causing them to find unhealthy ways to make themselves feel joy.
Precarious Situations
Sleeping complications can make you more prone to falling asleep in vulnerable situations, such as when you’re behind the wheel of your car. Statistics suggest that a sleep-deprived person is five times more likely to get into an unfortunate accident. Additionally, if your job requires you to drive machinery or puts you in dangerous situations, being extremely fatigued may put you or your coworkers in harm’s way.
Health Complications
Arguably, the most vital underlying issue with sleep deprivation is your health. Prolonged medical problems—many life-threatening—have been linked to sleep deprivation. Hypertension, stroke, sudden cardiac death, irregular heartbeat, and diabetes are some of the conditions that may develop if a sleeping order goes undetected for an extended period.
Some of the hidden costs of suffering from sleep deprivation are more obvious than others. But each plays a part in decreasing your quality of life. If you’re struggling to stay asleep, consulting your primary care physician for a course of action is in your best interest.
