There Is No Alternative to Sound and Healthy Sleep

A vital component of daily existence is sleep. Sleep is essential and cannot be replaced. Life without sleep is unimaginable. However, people's lives evolve throughout time. Nowadays, practically everyone has to wake up at night in some capacity, from kids and teenagers to professionals and students. The tendency to wake up at night is most prevalent, especially among young individuals. Mobile phone addiction is the primary cause of this issue in today's generation. Waking up in the middle of the night has become commonplace due to social media conversations, online gaming, watching television shows, and pressure from work or school.

Long-term nighttime waking has detrimental effects on the body and psyche, even if it may first appear like a brief pleasure or advantage. Numerous issues, such as bipolar illness, high blood pressure, depression, heart disease, inattention, vision issues, exhaustion, mental instability, and long-term health issues, can result from waking up late at night.

Waking up at night can be done for a variety of reasons. People's sleep patterns are disturbed by social media, internet gaming, and video series. The majority of young people sleep later because they use their phones at night. Many students study at night because they believe it's the quietest time to do so. Nowadays, a lot of individuals work through the night, neglecting their physical and emotional well-being and staying up late. 60% of Bangladeshi independent contractors work night shifts, which interferes with their regular sleep schedule, according to the Upwork Report (2023). Another cause of nighttime awakenings is anxiety, worry, or stress, which lowers the quality of sleep and exacerbates the issue of nighttime awakenings.

About 42% of persons worldwide do not get enough sleep, according to a World Health Organization (WHO, 2023) research. Between 50 and 70 million Americans are thought to have a sleep issue of some kind, and over 35 percent of adult Americans get less than the recommended seven hours of sleep each night. 74% of people aged 18 to 30 sleep after 12 p.m., and 43% sleep after 2 p.m., according to the Bangladesh ICT Division (2022). According to the National Health Research Institute (NHRC Bangladesh, 2023), 68% of Bangladeshi students frequently use their phones at night. According to a Stanford Medicine research of almost 75,000 participants, individuals who remained up late were more likely to experience behavioural and mental health issues. People who wake up late at night are more likely to suffer from heart disease, poor sleep, unhealthy eating habits, inactivity, etc., according to UCLA Health. People who go to bed later in the afternoon or late at night are significantly more likely to develop type 2 diabetes and heart disease, according to another review study.

The brain is directly impacted by sleep deprivation. The brain's capacity to comprehend information is hampered by inadequate sleep. Diminished focus, diminished capacity for making decisions, and fatigue throughout the day. People who don't get enough sleep do worse on tests and at work, according to studies. Melatonin is reduced and cortisol, a stress hormone, is increased when one wakes up at night. People become more nervous, irate, and psychologically unstable as a result. Heart disease and high blood pressure are more likely to occur when people wake up late at night. Additionally, sleep deprivation raises the levels of hormones that control appetite, which increases the risk of diabetes and weight gain. Sleep deprivation impairs the immune system. People can contract the flu, common colds, and other illnesses with ease. Many students believe that studying more at night will increase their learning. However, studies have revealed that while we sleep, the brain retains information. Consequently, it is frequently ineffective to wake up at night (Harvard Medical School, 2022). Every day, more people die as a result of sleep deprivation. According to a Harvard Medical School study, those who slept for five hours a night were 15% more likely to die. Suicide and sleep issues have also been connected.

For optimal health and wellbeing, getting enough sleep is crucial. Although the effects of staying up late are invisible, they can easily ruin a lovely lifestyle and have unfathomable consequences. Therefore, you should exercise caution going forward to save the future against this silent killer.
 

Tauba Akter Sharika is a
student of Dr. Mahabubur
Rahman Mollah College, Dhaka.