As a start, here are a number of things you can do to determine the extent of your sleep deprivation:

•    Keep a daily record of the amount of time that you sleep, and thus your sleep deprivation. Write down the time you go to bed, the last time you looked at the clock, and the time when you wake up. Write down any times you wake up during the middle of the night too. If you take naps, write down the start and end times of those as well. This record keeping will help determine what your sleeping patterns are, and exactly how sleep deprived you are.
•    Determine your quality of rest. Give each period of sleep a rating out of ten. If you go to sleep but feel like you aren’t getting enough rest, be sure to note it down.
•    Keep track of your activities before sleep. This should include any foods you consume, what you eat during the day. Be sure to note down any late-night snacks you eat just before you go to bed, as digestion can lead to loss of sleep time and sleep deprivation.
•    Keep a record of your daytime activities, especially ones that keep you awake (even if you are sleep deprived during those periods). For example, if you have a rigorous exercise routine or workout you should be aware of the effect that has on your nighttime rest.
•    Other items. Be sure to track how much caffeine you consume during the day, and when. If you drink alcohol, keep records of what you drank and how much and when. Also, if you feel that it is necessary, keep track of your emotional states during the day as they may contribute to your sleeping problems.

All of these things can contribute to the problems of sleep deprivation. If you find yourself recording this information and finding a pattern with it, then you can try to make changes that will ultimately improve your condition. If not, be sure to seek the assistance of your doctor who will be able to help resolve your problem. A little record keeping can go a long way to treating what can be a very serious condition (your sleep deprivation).

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A trained physician will be able to determine if there are other conditions behind your sleep deprivation. They will also be able to recommend appropriate forms of treatment. Your doctor may also look at the mental, physical and emotional side of the equation, to help diagnose any other complications that are causing your sleep deprivation.

Some common sleep disorders that can lead to sleep deprivation are:

•    Insomnia. Insomnia is technically not a sleep disorder but is often treated as one. Insomnia is a problem where an individual has problems falling asleep or staying asleep for a long enough period of time. It is often caused by stress, choice of lifestyle, medications or other external factors. The net result is the same: sleep deprivation.
•    Sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a breathing-related medical condition where the body stops receiving air through the night. There is more information available on sleep apnea in the other articles on this site, and how sleep apnea specifically relates to sleep deprivation .
•    Sleep attacks and parasomnias. These are a class of sleep deprivation-related conditions ranging from sleep attacks to narcolepsy and other symptoms such as restless leg syndrome, sleep walking, sleep talking and night terrors. If you suspect that you suffer from any of these conditions, consult your doctor immediately. Often the treatment cycle is beyond that used to deal with sleep deprivation.

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There are a number of medications that have been known to cause insomnia-like effects, therefore leading to sleep deprivation. A simple short-list includes:

•    Antidepressants
•    Decongestants
•    Bronchodilators
•    Blood Pressure medication
•    Thyroid medication
•    Diuretics
•    Antihistamines

Each of these categories of medication however, contains multiple forms of medication that can cause sleep deprivation. For example, if you take antidepressants to combat other conditions, you may face problems sleeping. This can include medications like lithium, MAOI medications, and SSRI medications. Those that take theophylline for their asthma treatment can have problems with sleeping and potentially sleep deprivation as well.

Non-prescription medications can also contribute to sleeplessness and sleep deprivation. For example, if you use decongestants to help you with a cold, the pseudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine often present in over-the-counter cold medication will cause you to stay awake, and thus potentially lead to sleep deprivation.

Sometimes, if you take too many sleeping pills you can find yourself struggling to get sleep even though you are taking a medication that should encourage rest (sleep deprivation works in strange ways). The problem with sleeping pills is simple: they contain medications that help to treat insomnia. Like most other types of medication however, your body will develop a resistance or tolerance to these medications over time. Once this happens, you will no longer find benefits from these medications and they may actually have the opposite effect of adding to your sleep deprivation!

If you find yourself struggling with a new medication either because you cannot sleep when you are taking it, or because you just can’t tolerate any of the other side effects that it has, talk to your doctor. Chances are, there is a medication that can be given to you without causing sleep deprivation effects.

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Today’s lifestyles are so rushed and hurried that there is no doubt little time left over for sleep, and sleep deprivation is fast becoming the norm. Many people find themselves struggling to finish the things they need to get done, and by the time they make it to bed they continue to worry about the various things that they didn’t get done. The end result of all this is a vicious cycle of sleep deprivation that can lead to all sorts of physical, mental and emotional problems.

The lifestyle choices that you make greatly affect the way that your body gets rest, and how sleep deprived you are. If you are fatigued or are sleepless no matter what, then these symptoms contribute to your state of sleep deprivation. There are a number of things that usually contribute:

•    Caffeine. Whether it’s coffee or soda, consuming too much caffeine will keep you awake at night, especially when taken in the hours just before bed. Caffeine adds to sleep deprivation.
•    Work shifts. If you work shifts where your hours change from day to day, then your sleeping habits are severely altered. For these individuals, sleep deprivation has become a way of life.
•    Time. No one has enough time in today’s world. Spending more time on other activities usually means getting less sleep, and potentially sleep deprivation.

No matter the reason behind your sleep deprivation, your lifestyle will probably take at least partial blame for your condition. This means that making changes to your lifestyle will help improve our condition going forward. Take a long, hard look at your lifestyle and improving the things that are contributing to your restless nights and your sleep deprivation.

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Back in 1910, the average person was able to get a good 9 hours of sleep every night. This changed in 1975 when the ‘official’ requirement became between 7 to 8 hours of sleep everyday. In a recent sleep study completed in 2002, it was found that the average American receives a little under 7 hours of sleep daily. The problem lies in a combination of bad lifestyle and sleeping habits, and not having the time needed to sleep until you are fully rested and relaxed.

So, how much sleep do you actually need?

Everyone has a slightly different physical and mental sleep for sleep. The majority of people get just enough sleep every night, and feel moderately OK to good afterwards. There are very, very few people who can get by on just 3-4 hours of sleep every night. For the rest of us, we need at least 8 to 9 hours of sleep every night to feel properly rested. Consider these facts:

•    Children under the age of 2 need at least 13 to 17 hours of sleep every night, due to their rapid grawing and development needs.
•    Toddlers over the age of 2 need at least 9 to 13 hours of sleep every night. Children will continue to need this amount until they are around 10 years old.
•    At the age of 10, you can get by on 10 to 11 hours of sleep a night. Teenagers also need this amount of sleep through puberty and in their final growth stages.
•    At the age of 16 and upwards, it is ‘recommended’ that you get between 6 and 9 hours of sleep per night, depending on your lifestyle and physical health.
•    People over the age of 65 only need between 6 to 8 hours of sleep daily.

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When considering what is contributing to your sleep deprivation, you need to realistically consider what factors in your lifestyle are having such a detrimental effect on your health.

Some general causes include:

•    Emotional stress and excitement. Sleep deprivation can occur if you have been under recent stress and are flooded with a torrent of thoughts during the night, and it is unlikely that you will get a good night’s rest. Simply being overly-excited can cause this to happen. This in turn, alters your sleeping pattern thus leading to sleep deprivation.
•    Medical conditions and medication. If you are facing a significant illness or taking a new type of medication for the first time, your sleeping patterns may be affected. You should consult your doctor about potential side effects of any other medical conditions you have, and what can be done about them. You should try your best to minimize substances that can cause sleep deprivation.
•    Food additives and stimulants. If you drink coffee, soda or any other substance with caffeine or other stimulants before sleeping then you will often not be able to get a good night’s sleep, and thus begin the process of sleep deprivation.

Though the above are the most common reasons for why you may be suffering from sleep deprivation, sometimes certain types of sleep disorders can also result in sleep deprivation. The combination of a lack of sleep with a sleep disorder is a significant health risk. Sleep disorders can include insomnia, nightmares and sleep apnea. Taking sleeping pills can also contribute to changing sleeping patterns and if used improperly, sleep deprivation.

Sleep deprivation is something that can cause significant long-term health issues, but fortunately can be overcome with proper treatment and habits.

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Sleep deprivation is a serious health concern. When your body does not get the required amount of sleep, it cannot do all that you ask of it effectively. Over time, this can be a significant health risk. Consider what happens to the body when a person suffers from sleep deprivation:

•    The brain doesn’t get enough rest. This affects the front cortex, thus reduces your ability to process speech functions properly. Your memory and problem-solving abilities are also severely hampered.
•    Your body lacks physical energy. Without sleep, your metabolism stops functioning properly, and your body is not provided with the energy required to perform its required tasks.
•    Your body becomes vulnerable to disease. There are a number of diseases known to be associated with sleep deprivation, such as early-stage diabetes and a breakdown in the metabolization of glucose.

What is important to realize is that when a person rests properly, any of the symptoms of sleep deprivation begin to fade away. Sleep deprivation is thus a treatable condition. If left untreated however, sleep deprivation causes the body to weaken and weaken, placing your health and physique at risk.

If you are experiencing sleep deprivation, don’t just write it off as ‘I need more sleep’. You can’t recover all those lost hours of sleep just by sleeping in on the weekend. Sleep deprivation needs to be addressed through a proper combination of corrective techniques and acquired habits.

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Simply put, sleep deprivation is a condition that you can get help for. By letting the condition worsen and worsen, you are placing yourself and those around you in danger.

The first thing you should understand is that sleep deprivation is something that you can change and something that you can recover from. You also need to understand the specific symptoms of sleep deprivation, so that you can identify them:

•    Exhaustion. If you find that you just don’t have the ability to complete the things you need to do, then you are likely suffering from exhaustion resulting from sleep deprivation. Your body may even ache and just not respond the way it should. Physical exhaustion places you at risk of all sorts of conditions, especially in tasks requiring some concentration, such as driving or operating machinery.
•    Fatigue. Fatigue is when the mind and body are incapable of providing the necessary attention to a given task. Similar to exhaustion, fatigue places you at risk in tasks requiring concentration. This is how sleep deprivation can cause bodily harm.
•    Lack of Physical Energy. A lack of physical energy usually indicates the presence of exhaustion or fatigue or both.

When you suffer from any of these symptoms of sleep deprivation, your emotional state of mind is also affected. This means that you could potentially experience feelings of sadness, anger, stress and other extreme mood swings without really having a reason for doing so. You may have had friends in the past who have gone for days without sleep because of work or study, who are extremely irritable and easily upset (all because of the sleep deprivation).

This all happens for a number of reasons, all of which are related to sleep deprivation, but mainly because of the brain’s reliance on sleep to function properly. When you don’t get enough sleep, your brain’s frontal cortex is unable to control various aspects of your functioning such as memory and speech. When it needs to solve a problem for you, it finds that it cannot do so. Such a condition places you at risk, and if the sleep deprivation and condtion worsens, it can even become life-threatening.

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Surveys indicate that somewhere upwards of 47 million Americans face problems with their sleeping habits which can be considered to be related to sleep deprivation. This is nearly one quarter of all American adults. These numbers are quite staggering if considered in perspective.

The most common affects of sleep deprivation include:

•    Memory problems. You begin forgetting what you need to do, how to do it, or the various details involved in the things you need to accomplish. This is a telltale sign of lack of concentration and sleep deprivation
•    Fall in energy levels. When this happens, your body is saying that it cannot keep up with the stresses you are placing upon it. You find that you don’t have the ability to perform certain tasks that would be simple had you gotten enough sleep.
•    Fall in strength levels. You will feel less strong, and incapable of focusing on the task at hand, and unable to perform desired actions. As per above, the root cause of a loss of strength is likely sleep deprivation.
•    Drop in mental alertness. The drop in mental alertness associated with sleep deprivation is a huge risk. People who don’t get enough sleep often find themselves unable to focus, which can cause significant danger to themselves and other in situations requiring mental focus. You find that you simply cannot keep up physically and mentally, thus placing yourself as risk.
•    Emotional swings. You find that you will experience extreme mood swings as you get less and less sleep, often for no obvious reasons. You can become hypersensitive or completely insensitive as a result.

All these affects of sleep deprivation are unnecessary risks that you should not have to face. You may find yourself unable to do your job properly, or complete the things you need to do… and often the cause is sleep deprivation. This is not to say that sleep deprivation cannot be overcome with some simple practices however.

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A less obvious cause of sleep deprivation is any type of chronic pain condition that you may have. Obviously, pain will prevent you from sleeping well during the night, thus leading to sleep deprivation. The most common occurrences of chronic pain are associated with a sore back or your leg muscles, resulting in sleep deprivation.

Other possible medical conditions include:

•    Asthma. People with average to severe asthma are going to suffer from sleep deprivation over the long term, especially if they suffer during night time. In some cases, medication that treats your asthma condition can also hamper your ability to sleep at night.
•    Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Many people who have snoring problems or other sleep disorders also have ADHD, resulting in a multitude of problems with sleeping, and often, sleep deprivation.
•    Depression. Depression can also be a cause of sleep deprivation. Depression can be onset by itself, or can the result of chronic insomnia, thus forming a dangerous and vicious medical cycle. Sufferers of bipolar disorder are also known to have associated sleep disorders.

Anyone with these medical conditions should be receiving treatment for them, especially if they are preventing you from getting a good night’s sleep. The simple fact is that they are all treatable conditions, and should be properly addressed as a way of managing sleep deprivation.

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