Why Is Sleep Important?

Why is sleep so important? Let’s start off how sleep works. There are two types of sleep, rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM. Non-REM is known as deep sleep or slow wave sleep because your bodily functions are slowed down (as measured by EEG recordings) and your breathing and heart rate are slow and regular. On the other hand, REM is when your eyes are moving rapidly while you sleep, and you are more likely to have vivid dreams during this. Generally, these occur 3-5 cycles each night. Throughout the day, your body has a repeating rhythm called the circadian rhythm which affects how your body works. This includes the REM cycles at night.

Sleep deficiency is when your body does not get enough sleep, in other words, your body did not follow the natural circadian rhythm. It can cause many problems, such as increased risk of injury, human error leading to huge incidents, and making it much harder to get through the day. Getting drunk and sleep deficiency have the same effect on your brain. According to a health survey from the CDC, 7-19% of adults in the U.S. reported not getting enough sleep every day. This is a major problem because up to a quarter of U.S. adults are not functioning at their normal capacity.

The benefits of a good night’s rest is numerous. For one, sleeping helps your brain work properly. During sleep, your brain forms new pathways from what you learned during the day and it condenses all of the information down so sleep helps your emotional and mental state a whole lot. It even helps your physical health because sleep is what allows your body to heal and repair heart and blood vessels, and muscles cells. It even helps maintain a hormone balance. While sleeping your body also gives the immune system time to fight any foregin or harmful substances.

In conclusion, sleep is very important for your body to rest and recover. Without sleep, that can negatively affect your body and how you function. Some strategies to help include going to bed and waking up at the same time, keeping the same sleep schedule on weekdays, weekends, and holidays, and avoid big meals a couple of hours before bedtime. The most important key to getting sleep is the amount of hours you sleep at each age. Below is an infographic of the recommended hours for different age groups.