Sleep Deprivation Causes

Sleep deprivation is something that most of us will encounter at some point in our lives. For most people it is only a temporary condition that is brought about by indirect stimulus shortly before sleep is attempted. There are many different things that can cause this, but usually they are either stress or a chemical stimulant that has been ingested or inhaled. Fortunately there are also many easy ways to make it less likely that you will suffer from sleep deprivation in the future as well.

The most common cause of sleep deprivation, both in the short and long term is stress. Everyone has things that worry them and that they think about a lot. And everyone has different stress levels and ways of dealing with things that they are worried about. Its when those stress levels become higher then normal that you might find it a lot harder to relax and in turn to fall asleep. Stress hormones basically trigger a flight or flight response and raise the blood pressure at the same time.

This is because our ancestors would only usually have been stressed when in a life or death situation, and so needed the body to be prepared to fight or run away from danger. Today stress can be triggered by a lot more diverse things that it used to and so we are generally more stressed all the time. Also modern day stresses are often prolonged whereas in ancient times stresses would usually only last as long as there was an immediate danger around.

So if you are suffering from a lot of stress it is important to become relaxed before attempting sleep. There are many different ways that this can be done ranging from listening to relaxing music, to doing something that you enjoy before bed. Sometimes something as simple as watching something funny on TV can take your mind off whatever you are stressed about long enough to let you fall asleep easily, rather than lying awake unable to relax.