It is no secret that sleep is an important process for every individual. While an enjoyable end to the day for most, it is also increasingly apparent that for many individuals, with the pressures and business of day to day life, sleep often becomes a lesser priority than perhaps it should. According to studies and experts in sleep, the optimal amount per night is between seven and eight hours. However, it is not uncommon for adults to be on the verge of or already getting less sleep than this, and the resulting effects can have harmful or even dangerous consequences to the individual and others around them.
The physical effects on health-related to sleep debt, or an insufficient night’s sleep, of less than six hours per night, may include weight gain, high blood pressure, heart disease, or even stroke. This according to the journal PLoS One. The study shows in fact that getting a good night’s sleep is as important as eating and breathing and that both physical and mental health is affected by the quality of sleep, with the effects of both having a potentially negative impact on work performance.
Different processes of restoration and sleep function occur during different stages of sleep, which subsequently trigger both mental and physical effects. For example, impaired sleep during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) can have an effect on an individual’s learning ability. Similarly, the hormone serotonin is released during REM sleep, and a lack of serotonin may be linked to feelings of depression and mood changes.
When an individual persistently is deprived of sleep, they build up ‘sleep debt’, and the greater the sleep debt, the greater the effect on brain functioning and thus external performance at and outside work. Common mental consequences of sleep deprivation include impaired memory function, lower attention span and greater difficulty problem solving and dealing with complex tasks. In extreme cases, an individual may experience hallucinations or paranoia, according to the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry 2018. This can be repaired, however, when an individual catches up on lost sleep and recovers their debt.
In the workplace, cognitive abilities including impaired learning, attention and memory, and greater difficulties with complex tasks and problem-solving can significantly affect an individual’s performance. Dr Charles A. Czeisler, Professor, Harvard University, summarises individual behaviour changes as, “Otherwise intelligent, well-mannered managers do all kinds of things they’d never do if they were rested—they may get angry at employees, make unsound decisions that affect the future of their companies, and give muddled presentations before their colleagues, customers, the press, or shareholders.”
For physical roles such as those involving driving or performing medical procedures, the likelihood of accidents and dangerous or fatal mistakes is increased. It is said that up to 12% of vehicle accidents are the result of sleepiness and subsequent slowed judgement and reaction time. Czeisler further described the effects of sleep deprivation on attention spans, “In a study our research team conducted of hospital interns who had been scheduled to work for at least 24 consecutive hours, we found that the odds of stabbing themselves with a needle or scalpel increased by 61%, their risk of crashing a vehicle increased by 168%, and their risk of a near-miss increased by 460%. It is estimated that 80,000 drivers fall asleep at the wheel every day, 10% of them run off the road, and every two minutes, one of them crashes.”
According to a recent study conducted by the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety, out of 1,435 individuals, it was found that those who suffered from insomnia were 56% more likely to have impaired work performance. Similarly, a 2012 study conducted by the Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that the work performance of participants who slept an average of fewer than six hours per night declined each week.
Researchers suggest that individuals taking naps when needed is one way to alleviate the horrors of sleep deprivation. A progressive approach to reducing and preventing potentially significant company costs, various companies such as Google in the US have introduced nap pods in their office space, where employees are able to catch up on some lost sleep during downtime at work. Such an approach tackles head-on the often negatively perceived necessity and are among those to reap the rewards from increased alertness and higher productivity. Similarly, a NASA study found that pilots who took a 26-minute nap increased alertness by 54% and performance by 34%; while a 40-minute nap increased pilot alertness by 100%.
The University of Haifa in Israel conducted a study in 2008 which revealed the relationship of daytime napping with enhancing long term memory, and the brain’s retention of information. These findings were later supported with a 2016 study conducted at the University of California at Berkeley. By contrast, sleep studies have shown that a 17 hour period of wakefulness has the same effect on an individual as having drunk two glasses of wine, or having a blood alcohol content of 0.05. If an individual has been awake for 21 consecutive hours, their attention and reaction functions are akin to having had four glasses of wine, or a blood alcohol level of 0.08.
The effects of sleep deprivation are certainly prominent on not only an internal level but also with external consequences. Famous disasters such as the Three Mile Island nuclear meltdown, the Chernobyl nuclear explosion, the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the Challenger space shuttle disaster have all been attributed to human error which was likely caused by sleep deprivation. Companies introducing schemes such as encouraging naps, or emphasising the importance of a good night’s rest can truly see the benefits not only in the individual but in their role and potentially company performance.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
