The body is wonderfully designed to sustain life and endure harsh condition given the proper care and management. Aside from suitable nourishment, one essential element of life processes, but often underestimated, is a good quality sleep. In fact, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [NHLBI] (2017) cited that roughly 50 to 70 million Americans have sleep disorders with nearly 40% adults reported to accidentally fall asleep during the activity of the day. Normally, NHLBI (2017) informed that sleeping patterns and requirements differ in age groups: infants, 12-16 hours, 1-2 years old, 11-14 hours, pre-school, 10-13 hours, school-aged, 9-12 hours, adolescents, 8-10 hours, and adults, 7-8 hours each night. In order to affect interventions to combat sleep deprivation, a person has to understand the powerful effects of sleep physically, mentally, and individual’s quality of life.
Primarily, sleep is fashioned in the human body to repair and recover from the daily grinds of life. NHLBI (2017) included the 24-hour circadian rhythm in the body that responds to internal and external cues to induce sleep. Internally, NHLBI (2017) explained that the accumulation of adenosine and melatonin causes the body to fall asleep while the external cues come from body’s reaction to the decreasing light in …show more content…
Unfortunately, the demands of life can fail the person to realize the benefits of sleep and consequences of sleep debts. Personally, I sleep less than six hours nightly due to habits formed when I was working the night shift periods. With sleep deprivation, I can catch myself inattentive, clumsy, short-tempered, and forgetful working in the unit. At the end of the day, I would feel very tired to engage in a family conversation or do anything at all. Mindful of the beneficial worth of sleep, I would resolve to improve my sleep hygiene; thus, improving my health as