Haley Masters

ENG 1102

Professor Riley

28 July 2020

The amount of sleep that you allow yourself to get per night can have major effects on

your mindset and ability to get through getting things done during the following day. Sleep gives

your body the time that is needed to cleanse, stabilize, and heal itself, it is recommended that you

get seven to nine hours of quality sleep every night. If you do not get enough sleep, it can take a

serious toll on your physical and mental health. A lack of sleep has also been linked to feeling

more depressed, irritable, and being hostile towards others. Due to the fact that you are likely to

not be able to focus as well when running off of just a few hours of sleep, it becomes difficult for

you to efficiently learn and pick up information. It also affects your memory, which is a crucial

part of learning. It has been proven that without sleep, a human's mental, emotional, and physical

health are bound to suffer.

Oftentimes people who don't get enough sleep have a more negative than positive outlook on life

than those who do, along with being in a generally worse mood than the average person. Sleep

loss has an affect on your mood, and your mood can have an affect on how much and how well

you sleep. Studies have shown that people who are sleep deprived report an increase in negative

moods and a decrease in positive moods. "Sleep deprivation seems to be associated with greater

emotional reactivity — people who suffer from sleep loss are especially likely to react negatively

when something doesn’t go well for them." (Gordon 3) This quote is essentially saying that when
a person has trouble getting an adequate amount of sleep at night, they tend to be in low spirits

and are prone to being highly irritable. The results of research that has been done suggest that

sleep deprivation will only enhance a person's negative mood due to increased amygdala activity

and a disconnect between the amygdala and the area of the brain that regulates its functions.

Thus, causing the person to not be able to perform normally or properly. Something that is as

simple as getting enough sleep can really throw off your entire day in so many different ways.

Not allowing yourself to get enough sleep every night can affect you in ways that you probably

have never even thought about. When a person lacks being on a consistently good sleep schedule

and getting an adequate amount of sleep, their perception and judgement abilities begin to

decrease and worsen. The deficits you may experience from lack of sleep can compromise many

things, such as your creativity, your ability to make decisions or solve problems, and your work

performance. "Believe it or not, going just 19 hours without sleep can compromise your speed

and accuracy on tests of judgment and motor reaction time as much as if you were legally

drunk." (How Losing Sleep 4) This quote goes to show that losing necessary sleep can lead a

person to performing badly at tasks that involve quick thinking and coordination and even has

the chance of guiding the person down a path of wrong decisions. It was reported that almost

one-third of Americans in the National Sleep Foundation’s 2009 poll reported nodding off while

driving, which is just as dangerous as a person who is drinking and driving.

Getting enough sleep can actually lead to you being less prone to getting sick and can even help

to aid you in the recovery. "If you get less than seven hours of sleep, you’re 2.94 times more

likely to develop a cold." (Highland 4) This quote is demonstrating the fact that the amount of

sleep you get per night has an affect on how often and susceptible you are to getting sick with a
cold or virus. While you are sleeping, your immune system recharges itself and gets to work

making antibodies. It has also been said that once your immune system is depressed by the lack

of sleep, it takes longer for your body to fight off an infection and for your skin to heal from

wounds. Studies have shown that if you are sleeping for fewer than six hours a night, it can

increase your risk of developing high blood pressure or worsen high blood pressure if you

already have it along with increasing your chances of developing cardiovascular disease.

To conclude, making sleep one of your top and most important priorities can have a much

greater effect on you than the average person may think. We as humans have the tendency to put

our work and other personal activities before prioritizing our sleep schedule. The amount of

sleep you allow yourself to get can affect multiple different aspects of your life, including things

like your moods, motivation, efforts, and ability to concentrate and function properly. A good

attempt at regulating your sleep schedule is to set a routine and stick to it, going to bed around

the same time every night and getting up at the same time each morning. Without sleep, we as

humans would not be able to function or live our lives as we should.

Bibliography
 Gordon, Amie M. “Up All Night: The Effects of Sleep Loss on Mood.” Psychology

Today, Sussex Publishers, 15 Aug. 2013, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-you-and-

me/201308/all-night-the-effects-sleep-loss-mood.

“How Losing Sleep Affects Your Body and Mind.” Sleep.org, 23 Jan. 2020,

www.sleep.org/articles/how-losing-sleep-affects-your-body-mind/.

“Sleep Deprivation: The Effects on Mind and Body.” Mental Health America,

www.mhanational.org/blog/sleep-deprivation-effects-mind-and-body.

Peri, Camille. “Sleepiness: Cognitive and Emotional Effects.” WebMD, WebMD, 30 Apr.

2013, www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/emotions-cognitive.

“The Complex Relationship Between Sleep, Depression & Anxiety.” Sleep Foundation,

www.sleepfoundation.org/excessive-sleepiness/health-impact/complex-relationship-between-

sleep-depression-anxiety.

“The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Workplace Behavior .” Shibboleth Authentication

Request, eds-a-ebscohost-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=13.