Sleep requirements vary from person to person. More than that, the number of sleeping hours needed by each person decreases with age. Most adult needs 7 to 9 hours of Sleep to function their best. The younger ones need more sleeping hours than adults. But, though sleeping hours vary, it’s recommended to have at least 7 hours of sleep each night.

If you know yourself that you’re not meeting your daily sleep needs, you may suffer from Sleep Deprivation. Here are tell-tale signs to confirm you’re sleep deprived:

Acne breakout

According to a study published in Sleep, psychological stress, lack of sleep, and acne are all related. For every hour of lost sleep each night, the risk of psychological stress increases by 14%. And, this stress increases glucocorticoid production that leads to skin abnormalities such as acne.

Dark eye circles

Tissue repair and cell regeneration in the body often happens between 10 PM and 3 AM. If you sleep during this time, your body gets to repair itself best. However, if you’re sleep-deprived, obvious signs such as dark eye circles, puffy eyes, lines, and wrinkles will manifest on your face.

Mood swings

Sleep deprivation makes a person more vulnerable to irritability, mood swings, crankiness, and mental exhaustion. Worse, lack of sleep can lead to anxiety and depression – conditions that make it even harder to fall asleep. So, as much as possible, follow a healthy sleep schedule daily.

Unhealthy cravings

Have you noticed that after a sleepless night, you’re more drawn to crave for unhealthy food packed with sugar, salt, or fat? According to a study, sleep-deprived people found it harder to resist “palatable snacks,” and they are more likely to choose snacks with more calories and fat.

Weight gain

Lack of sleep interferes with the body’s production of hormones and wreaks havoc in the body’s overall health. Sleep deprivation often leads to weight gain because the levels of the appetite-suppressing hormone (leptin) reduce while the hunger-stimulating hormone (ghrelin) increases.

Impaired focus

Even a two-hour sleep debt after pulling an all-nighter can impair focus, concentration, and memory, leading to poor productivity and performance the next day. Worse, impaired focus, caused by chronic lack of sleep, can lead to accidents and injuries.

Weak immunity

Lack of sleep also weakens the body’s immune system and causes the body to be more prone to suffer different illnesses. It turns out that sleep deprivation makes people more prone to colds, flu, bacterial infections, and viruses because it prohibits the healthy function of the immune system.

Faltering judgment

When people are sleep deprived, they are more prone to having difficulties in processing their emotions. Lack of sleep causes the brain’s emotional processor, the prefrontal cortex, to sleep as well. Because of this, sleep-deprived people tend to have faltering judgments and no self-control.

Experiencing these signs? You might need to revamp your schedule and lifestyle to be able to meet your sleep requirements. Sleep deprivation is no joke.

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