The human body is a funny thing even in normal circumstances. Deprive it of sleep and it starts behaving like your computer did when you had Windows Vista on it.
The symptoms of sleep deprivation are interesting and sometimes funny, and this article will explain the weird science behind these interesting symptoms.
1. You start forgetting things you should have easily remembered
When you sleep, your brain basically replays all the memories of your day so that they are stored for the long run. When you get no sleep for an extended period, the brain basically has no OFF time to replay and make memories.
That’s effectively saying goodbye to the day’s memories.
But hey, we have cell phones that take pictures, right?
2. You get bad, bad skin and you start looking older than you should look
Sleep is a natural stress buster. When you do not get enough sleep, the levels of stress hormone, cortisol, rises in the body. This hormone breaks down collagen in your skin that makes your skin soft and supple.
In short, you age dramatically on the days you do not get enough sleep. This is the reason why people who don’t sleep have puffy eyes and dark circles under their eyes.
3. You get fat
Sleep deprivation means that you have been awake for long. Being awake requires more energy than being asleep. This is the reason the body needs more carbs to keep functioning.
In short you binge eat and crave oily food and get fat.
4. Men get less macho
Testosterone – the chemical that makes men manly is produced during sleep hours. When you do not sleep, your body does not produce enough testosterone for the next day, leaving you less manly.
So, sleep adequately!
5. You become terrible drivers
Do you know about the worst nuclear catastrophe of humankind? That’s the Chernobyl disaster.
The worst oil spill in the history of mankind – Exxon Valdez.
Both of these were caused by sleep deprived people. Sleep deprivation causes you to become clumsy. You become horrible at coordinating movements of your hands and legs.
6. Because no sleep is just like being drunk
Going without sleep for more than 24 hours is like having a blood alcohol level of 0.1 percent.
That’s like 4 shots of tequila right there.
No wonder you are clumsy AF.
7. You will not get horny
A study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that getting less than 6 hours of sleep leaves you with zero sex drive.
You have no energy to even think about sex, let alone do it in practice.
8. And you will end up with less sperm count (if you are a man, that is)
Less sleep = low sperm count.
In an age where infertility is rampant and young couples resort to expensive medical procedures to conceive, less sleep may be a culprit.
Studies showed that getting less or disturbed sleep resulted in 29% less sperm count in the studied candidates. So if you want to conceive, you probably should get your 40 winks.
9. You literally lose brain tissue when don’t sleep for a full day and night
In a surprising effect of sleep deprivation, just one night of sleep deprivation resulted in brain tissue loss.
That basically means that you literally become less intelligent by depriving yourself of sleep for one night.
10. You become much less funny than you usually are
Wit is rare enough to find these days, and if you complain of people around you not being funny enough, it may be because they are not getting enough sleep.
Less sleep affects the inferior frontal gyrus part of the brain that helps you make the witty connections during the conversation.
Get enough sleep if people complain that you are not funny anymore.
11. The brain inceptions itself and plants fake memories
We already talked about how we fail to make memories stick when we go without sleep. Turns out the brain starts misinterpreting the events that happened during the day too.
So, if you went to the grocer to buy apples and didn’t get enough sleep at night, it is quite possible that you believe you went to the grocer to buy oranges. It’s dangerous.
12. You pee a lot
When you sleep, the body makes less urine. When you deprive yourself of sleep, the body produces urine normally, as it does during the day.
13. Your chances of getting fired from work increases
Research shows that you tend to make stupid decisions at your job when you are sleep deprived. And not just stupid, but deviant. Deviant decisions are what will set you apart from the more well-behaved employees.
And you probably might get fired.
14. You literally phase out of the present and you have no idea how it happened
It is called microsleep – the state in which your body desperately takes naps without asking you. You literally are not in control anymore and it is one of the biggest contributors of road accidents in the US.
15. You become an emotional person
Turns out, you start misinterpreting facial expressions and become too emotional when you get no sleep. The emotional centers of the brain are hyperactive when you are sleep deprived.
That explains why you cried so much last night because you didn’t sleep at all.
To summarize, your job, your future kids, happiness, safety while driving, sex, funny quotient, and manliness – all depend on a good night’s sleep.
If these aren’t good enough reasons to get good sleep, I really don’t know what is.
Go, sleep! ? ?Â
