The cosiness of a warm bed seems like argument enough for getting a good night’s sleep, but still nearly a third of people aren’t catching enough Z’s on a nightly basis. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, about 30 percent of adults are snoozing for less than six hours a night, even though a joint panel convened by The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society recommends everyone get at least seven hours of sleep in order to maintain a healthy mind and body, Daily Mail reports.
So for those adults who don’t see a comfy blanket and pillow as enough of an enticement to make sleep a top priority, Yahoo Health has created a handy infographic that explains all of the other reasons – your looks, your mood, your health – that you should turn off the TV, switch your iPhone to ‘Do Not Disturb’ and conk out at a reasonable hour.
Since simply feeling tired isn’t enough of a push for some people to hit the sack a bit earlier, the graphic makes sure to appeal to people’s vanity.
Being tired, quiet simply, just doesn’t look good. People functioning on too-little sleep have more noticeable wrinkles and fine lines, bloodshot eyes, more prominent under-eye circles, and droopy lids. So while it’s true that the florescent lighting in office bathrooms does nobody any favours, it may not always be the only culprit for why you look less attractive in the mirror.
Exhaustion is also a major diet-buster, potentially causing you to gain weight. When you’re tired, your metabolism slows – but the fact that you’re not efficiently burning calories doesn’t stop you from wanting to eat. In fact, you’re likely to consume more calories than necessary when you’re behind on sleep.
But even those people who are OK with the physical effects of sleeplessness aren’t immune to the effects it has on – well, the immune system.
Besides experiencing more frequent headaches, people who get too little sleep can find that their bodies aren’t as good at fighting infections. According to one recent study, people who sleep for six hours or less are more than four times more likely to catch a cold.
“(Sleep is) an overwhelmingly strong predictor for susceptibility to the cold virus,” said Aric Prather, an assistant professor of psychiatry at University College San Francisco and the study’s lead author.
There are plenty of long-term health issues, too. One study by the European Society of Cardiology found that men with sleep disorders more likely to have heart attacks or stroke. Insufficient sleep can also raise blood pressure and increase the risk for prediabetic conditions.
Skipping out on those precious resting hours majorly messes with mental health as well. Several studies – and, of course, most people’s anecdotal experience – has found that we’re more irritable, emotional and short-tempered when we are tired.
And the effects don’t just last for a day. Continuing to get too-little sleep puts people at risk for anxiety and mood disorders like depression, too – which can be a vicious cycle, because people suffering from depression also often have trouble sleeping.
“One of the most important things we have to remember is that sleep is a function of the brain,” Shalini Paruthi, MD, spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, told Yahoo Health. So missing out on it can lead to difficulty concentrating, lower-functioning memory and slower reaction time.
“We first lose our speed and then we lose the accuracy,” Dr Paruthi went on. “There are multiple studies that show being deprived – even if it’s four hours of sleep – can make someone have the same reaction time as someone who is driving under the influence. Driving while sleep-deprived is the equivalent of driving drunk.”