Personal procrastination habits and sleep deprivation effects

Procrastination, I pay for it often. It's bad enough that I have trouble sleeping most nights, but when I put off studying for exams until the last moment and was up all hours of the night studying, it certainly did not help my day. By the time I was satisfied with my familiarity of the material I had to learn there were only a couple of hours left for sleep. Coffee helped a little, but I went through the day with the feeling of fatigue hanging over my head. I was able to complete my exams and go through the day feeling a little tired, but not worn out. I was not any crankier than I normally am; I felt a little slower, a little out of sync, but not useless. Perhaps a way to describe it is that there was less reserve energy in my tank than there is normally if I needed to suddenly expend a burst of energy; however, I was able to go about the day at my slightly below normal pace. As the day wore on I began to run down and was ready for bed earlier than usual. I slept unusually soundly that night and woke up the next morning with no after-effects. I did not feel any sleep deprivation effects.

Sleep Disorders

While there is still much to be learned about the functions of sleep, most investigators conclude that sleep serves as a restorative function. Ohayon & Reynolds (2009) reported that 40 million people a year suffer from sleep disorders and another 20 million suffer occasional sleep problems. There are over 70 recognized sleep disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The DSM-IV-TR divides primary sleep disorders (sleep disorders not caused by another medical condition, mental disorder, or a substance) into dyssomnias and parasominas. Dyssomnias are disorders of the timing or quality of sleep and can be further divided into insomnia, a disturbance in the quantity or quality of a person's sleep and hypersomnia, conditions of excessive sleepiness.

Primary Insomnia

Primary insomnia occurs when there is difficultly falling or staying asleep and this difficulty lasts for at least a month. Insomniacs are often preoccupied with getting enough sleep and the harder they try the less successful they are. Primary insomnia is often treated with benzodiazepines (Valium, Xanax) and hypnotic drugs like Ambien, Sonata, and Lunesta. Drugs that have long acting effects are better for middle or late insomnia (difficulty with waking in the night and not being able to go back to sleep) and shorter acting drugs are better for people with initial insomnia, people who have difficulty falling asleep. Many of the medications used to treat insomnia have the potential for addiction (Sadock & Sadock, 2007).

Sleep Reduction

There is a relationship between mortality and long-term reductions in the amount of sleep people normally get. People that regular sleep less than six hours per night have been shown to have a higher risk death due to cardiovascular disease. About half of the studies find a U-shaped effect, that is that less than 6 and more than 9 hours of sleep is associated with increased risk of death from cardiac disease and increased risks of other disorders (Ferrie, Shipley, Cappuccio, Brunner, Miller, Kumari, & Marmot, 2007). Long-term sleep reduction is also a risk factor for contracting hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. Ferrie et al. have suggested that lower social economic status is associated with higher levels of stressors including low perceived levels of control over one's life, job insecurity, and financial insecurity that can lead to the poorer patterns of sleep that have been associated with the higher levels of morbidity. In addition, a mechanism behind the association between health and less sleep could also be sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea or other chronic inflammations linked to insomnia and the risk of type 2 diabetes. Physiologically, reduced sleep is associated with increased cortisol levels and abnormal growth hormone secretion. Both have been tied to hypertension and cardiovascular diseases and this may also explain some of the findings. Finally, sleep reduction is also associated with psychiatric disorders like depression, bipolar disorder, and substance abuse which are also associated with higher rates of early mortality (Sadock & Sadock, 2007).