Sleep also affects your mood. Lack of sleep can make you irritable and cranky, affecting your emotions, social interaction, and decision making. Insufficient sleep is linked to poor behavior and trouble with relationships. People who chronically lack sleep are also more likely to become depressed.
Sleep deprivation also affects motor skills. Most people are aware of the dangers of drinking and driving but don’t realize that drowsy driving can be just as fatal. Like alcohol, sleepiness slows reaction time, decreases awareness, impairs judgment and increases your risk of crashing. Driver fatigue, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, causes over 100,000 accidents and 1500 deaths each year. One national poll has shown that over 50% of drowsy drivers have fallen asleep at the wheel.
Why is this information important? It is important to understand how your sleep may be affecting you, so you don’t incorrectly attribute how you feel and act to other more serious causes. For instance, if you find that you don’t remember things as well or can’t concentrate, it probably is related to not sleeping well, rather than having Alzheimer’s disease.
module 3 page 3 of 12