If you sleep for only a few hours a day or wake up multiple times in the night, you aren’t getting enough sleep. Sleep deprivation and sleep disturbances can both have a significant impact on your physical and mental health. The reason you aren’t sleeping is the key to figuring out how to fix the problem, and the first step is knowing the difference between insomnia and sleep deprivation.
Insomnia Vs. Sleep Deprivation
If you are sleep deprived, medicine like CBD isn’t going to be able to help you. The difference between sleep deprivation and insomnia is that people who have insomnia put in the time to get to sleep while people with sleep deprivation can’t or won’t. This could be having crazy work hours or feeling like you don’t have enough time in the day to get everything done, so you sacrifice sleep, and this can have major consequences to your mind and body. Someone with insomnia lays their head down to fall asleep but they can’t, or when they do it isn’t a restful night’s sleep which can also be dangerous.
Your Body And Sleep
Most of us need about eight hours of good quality sleep to be at our best. Some people need a little bit more, and others need less, but eight hours is the guideline. If you wake up tired all day and crave naps, it’s likely that you aren’t getting enough restful sleep. And I say restful because you can have ten hours of sleep but if you have insomnia, you might be waking up so much that you aren’t experiencing enough time in the REM stage of sleep which is what your body needs to recover from the day.
If you have an occasional night where you don’t get enough sleep, you may feel easily irritated, fatigued, and lack focus but it won’t be harmful to your health. There is such a thing as catching up on sleep, so as long as this pattern doesn’t continue, you should be fine. When you continually don’t get a good night’s sleep, this is when the health problems come in.
Without Enough Sleep, You May Notice
It Becomes Hard To Make Decisions
Research shows that depriving your body of sleep can have a huge impact on your cognitive functioning. Your brain can start to feel foggy, and you just aren’t all the way there in your head. This can cause you to have more accidents at home, at work, and on the road which can be extremely dangerous. This can also make you less capable of doing your job more efficiently and taking care of yourself or your family.
You Become Moody
Researchers have also discovered that one of the ways that sleep deprivation or disturbances affects our brain is by making our mood unstable. This can cause you to start feeling irritable, anxious, and depressed. If you don’t get your sleeping habits under control, it could even turn your moodiness into a full-blown mood disorder.
You Get Sick More Often
Studies show that sleep plays an essential role in the strength of our immune system. Without enough sleep, you are more prone to catching a cold or other very avoidable illnesses. If you are someone who is trying to gain a couple of hours extra in your day by sacrificing sleep, you’ll be losing those hours as you sit in your bed surrounded in tainted tissues stuffing your face in a humidifier.
Gaining Weight
This particular symptom of lack of sleep actually goes both ways. If you sleep too much or too little, you can start to gain weight. This is because of the levels of leptin and ghrelin changing which increases your appetite.
You Have Developed Diabetes
This consequence is more for those of you who have insomnia; studies show it has a more significant impact on developing diabetes than a reduced sleep schedule. When you aren’t getting enough restful sleep, your body’s glucose is affected which is how your body uses energy.
You Have Heart Problems
People who don’t get enough sleep have a higher risk of heart disease than those who have healthy sleeping habits. This is another health problem that is more likely to happen when you have insomnia than if you have a shorter sleeping time.
What Can You Do About Your Sleep Problems?
If you aren’t sleeping enough as a choice, making better decisions can help you become healthier. Sometimes recovering from lack of sleep can take up to weeks, but it is worth it in the long run. Some suggest that sleeping ten hours a night at first until you can reach a more regular sleep time is an excellent place to start.
If you have insomnia, there are several ways that you can improve your sleeping habits. Insomnia can happen because you have poor mental or physical health, but it can also be because of decisions that you make throughout the day.
How To Improve Sleeping Habits
Stick To A Sleeping Schedule
You’ve got a little clock in your body known as the circadian rhythm or your sleep-wake cycle that figures out when it is time to rest and when it is time to be awake and alert. You can train this clock by having a regular time that you go to sleep every night. Be consistent.
Relaxing Bedtime Rituals
One issue I used to have that would keep me up for an extra two hours is I would play video games right before bed. Now, not everyone gets hot and heated while playing Overwatch, but I do. By switching to relaxing activities before bed, it can help calm your mind down so you can fall asleep more easily. Maybe taking a relaxing bath, meditating, drinking warm milk, or you can be cool like me and have a wind-down book beside your bed.
Exercise Everyday
Studies have suggested that moderate amounts of aerobic exercise like taking a walk can help with chronic insomnia. Vigorous training like running or lifting weights didn’t improve insomnia, so just a walk through the neighborhood is enough to get you regulated.
Make Your Room Sleep-Friendly
Maximizing your sleep environment can be a huge help in getting to sleep. You can do this by making your room’s only purpose to be for rest or romance, making your brain realize that when you are in this room, there are only two things that are going to happen. Also getting rid of electronics in your room because the light and distraction can have you left awake. Keeping your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet can also help to make a better environment for sleep.
Have Comfy Sleeping Supplies
If you have an uncomfortable mattress or pillow, it is going to make falling asleep a lot harder to do. Not everyone has the superhuman ability to fall asleep anywhere like a baby, which is why making sure you have a good quality mattress is on your list of necessary tools to help better your health.
Taking CBD Hemp Oil
People who have insomnia have a disrupted sleep-wake cycle. They can feel tired throughout the day, when they try to go to sleep it is like the lights have finally turned on. They can experience sleep disturbances which means that they aren’t in the REM stage of their sleep cycle, making their rest virtually useless. But taking CBD oil may be able to help people who have insomnia.
Taking a small amount of CBD usually gives the user an uplifted feeling and energy. It can replace the caffeine that you might so heavily depend on, which is a substance that can make sleeping very difficult. Taking this small amount doesn’t just help you gain natural energy, it also can help regulate your sleep-wake cycle by being a wake-promoting agent.
For those who finally crawl into bed after a long day and can’t fall asleep, using CBD full spectrum hemp oil may be beneficial. Full spectrum hemp oil contains the other cannabinoids in the cannabis or hemp plant, minus the THC. One of those cannabinoids being CBN, which is one of the strongest sedatives of all of the cannabinoids, being as effective as the commonly used valium.
The cannabinoid CBD has shown in studies that it may be able to promote the REM stage of sleeping, which means that when you finally do get to sleep, it is actually doing something for your body. The REM stage is when your body undergoes repair so you can feel well rested when you wake up.
Get Some Sleep!
If you think that sacrificing a few hours of sleep to get more work done is a good idea, think again. Your best work comes from a mind well rested. If you just can’t get to sleep at night, try to make some changes and even taking CBD hemp oil may be able to help!
