Scientists of Stanford University made a huge discovery: our brain keeps precise record on how much sleep we are lacking. A simple test revealed this impressively: ten volunteers slept only five hours per night for seven nights. Here, it became clear that the tendency to fall asleep increased progressively every following day. Thus it was able to prove that the effects of a sleep loss are added up each following night. That means that the force of the tendency to fall asleep increased progressively on every following night with the exact same hours of sleep per night. Lost hours of sleep automatically add up. Most important: this enhanced sleep tendency did not decrease during the day without any additional sleep.
Therefore, it is concluded that the accumulated sleep deficit has to be “paid back” in form of sleep, possibly even hour by hour. This exactly is the reason why we for example should sleep eleven hours (eight hours + lost three hours) after a night with three hours of sleep loss to be awake and vigilant during the day.
Avoid chronic sleep deficit
So, over several nights a sleep debt possibly might be slightly increased night by night. Let’s take a five-day-workweek, for example. Here, instead of sleeping the needed eight hours you only sleep six per night which leads to a sleep debt of ten (five times two).
Taken this into consideration you would have to sleep until 5 p.m. on Saturday to agree the balance. Actually, this is hardly possible – practice has shown that we are going to sleep about one or two hours more and that we feel more rested afterwards.
But, the level of the deficit still is at the same height. Our inner clock demands compensation. More and more you will feel this chronic sleep debt during the day. And, if you once lose even more sleep due to “social or work obligations” you are going to be not only tired and sleepy but your energy will constantly decrease.
The physical-mental power decreases, our well-being and our mental stability suffer. Sooner or later, this vicious circle leads to a disturbance of sleep: you will be too tired and weak to be able to have a restful sleep.
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