Are You Getting the Sleep You Need?

Each of us will spend about a third of our life sleeping-- or trying to sleep. Getting an adequate amount of sleep each night is as essential to your health and peak performance as nutrition or exercise. Sleep is important in helping your body recover physically from illness and injury. The benefits of sleep for emotional and mental health are also significant. People with chronic insomnia are more likely to have psychiatric problems and to use more health care services.

Even an occasional loss of sleep can affect your work performance, diminish your mood, reduce your energy level, impair your ability to concentrate, and decrease your memory. It can also make life feel a lot more stressful by making it difficult to handle minor irritations, to complete required tasks, and may contribute to strained relationships. Inadequate sleep is associated with increased absenteeism from work and can also be dangerous by making you susceptible to serious or fatal accidents. Most adults need an average of seven to nine hours of sleep a night. However, needs can vary with some individuals as little as five hours to perform at their peak while others need as much as 10 hours to feel good.

A number of things people do can prevent them from getting a good night's sleep. For example, taking daytime naps can reduce tiredness and make it hard to sleep. Psychological factors such as stress, bereavement, depression or anxiety can also cause sleep difficulties. Chronic health conditions such as arthritis, heartburn, osteoporosis, and heart or pulmonary disease can interrupt, delay, or shorten the ability to sleep. The drugs used to treat these conditions can also play a role in sleep disturbances.

READ ABOUT . . . Stages of Sleep Circadian Rhythms and Aging Falling Asleep and Staying Asleep Insomnia Drugs for Sleep Tips for a Good Night's Sleep