According to Sleepdex, a non profit informational organization, created to help people with sleep problems, “sleep may be a way of recharging the brain” (Why We Sleep). Sleep research is new to scientists and they have not yet come up with why people sleep, but they do know that people need sleep to survive. Scientists say that people can survive longer without food than without sleep. A person sleeps a third of his or her lifetime. Humans can go a while without sleep, but they often notice the affects it has on them if they do not get the amount of sleep that is needed for their bodies. Scientists say that sleep gives the brain a chance to relax and to reorganize data so they will be able to process newly learned things, organize, and archive data.
There are many reasons for sleep. Sleepdex research says, “Sleep lowers a person’s metabolic rate and energy consumption” (Why We Sleep). When people fall asleep and wake up they often feel refreshed, alert, and ready to take on what ever the world throws their way (Nagel). A person who has trouble falling or staying asleep may suffer from a sleep disorder. Some sleep disorders can be serious and they can affect people’s lives, from their attitude to how they perform at work. Sleepdex states, “During sleep, the body has a chance to replace chemicals and repair muscles, other tissues, and aging or dead cells” (Why We Sleep). Ancient humans believed that the soul left the body during sleep, and the well-known prayer that includes the words, "if I should die before I wake," tells people something about the fear many may experience (Nagel).
People need different amounts of sleep depending on their age and health. “Infants sleep about sixteen hours a day, while teenagers need about nine hours on average. Most adults need seven to eight hours of sleep a night” (How Much Sleep). Growth hormones are released during deep sleep with children and young adults. As people get older their sleep patterns change. Newborns and infants might sleep as much as seventeen hours a day while a five year old may only sleep about twelve hours a day. Newborns and infants sleep longer and more deeply than adults because sleep is important to their development and well-being.
People who work at night and sleep during the day are susceptible to sleep disorders. These are usually caused by a disruption of a person’s “circadian rhythm . . . . [Which] means that the body's internal clock is out of sync with the twenty-four hour day” (Nagel). Circadian rhythm sleep disorders are caused when people are forced to adjust to new dark/light patterns. An example is a worker whose assignment is changed from the day shift to the night shift. The worker must learn how to sleep when it is light out and to work when it is dark out. A temporary sleep disorder could be jet lag. When people are in a different time zone it messes with the internal clock. Many people have suffered from a disorder, even if only sleepwalking, “night terrors,” teeth grinding, or talking during sleep.
Insomnia is a normal human behavior that can and should be treated. A simple description of insomnia is that it occurs when the part of the brain used for thinking does not turn off (Nagel). Insomnia is the inability to get the right amount of sleep enough needed in a day, whether it is because a person can not fall asleep or sleep long enough. Everyone at one point in their lives has this. If a person is suffering from this disorder frequently by not being able to fall or stay asleep, and if they feel the affects of “sleeplessness” in the next day or so, they have insomnia. Thirty million or more Americans suffer from this sleep disorder alone (Nagel). Insomnia is often caused by too much caffeine intake or stress. Physical problems, such as disability or pain, can cause a person to suffer from insomnia. Also, an environment that a person is not used to in could be another reason why a person would suffer from. Stress can be caused by a number of things, such as working at a demanding job, partying every night, or drinking too much alcohol regularly (Nagel). Certain types of medicine can also cause insomnia. There is not a way to exactly cure insomnia, but a person suffering from it can treat the symptoms by taking sleeping pills to help them fall asleep. One particular type of insomnia, called transient insomnia, is directly linked to emotional and physical stress. Like other forms of the disorder, “[transient] insomnia does not require any medical treatment. . . . [And] when the incident is over their sleep habits return” (Newton and Olendorf). Hypersomnia is the direct opposite of insomnia it is when you want to sleep more.
The most prevalent cause of insomnia, according to this graph inspired by one provided by AcupunctureToday.com, is either anxiety or depression. Other problems associated with insomnia include hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and congestive heart failure. Anxiety or depression is the highest because of the definition of insomnia. When that side of the brain that is used for thinking shuts down you can become depressed.
