Sleep debt is the cumulative effect of not getting enough sleep. When someone consistently gets less sleep than they should, the body seems to maintain an awareness of the cumulative amount of missed sleep.

Table of contents
1 Accumulating Sleep Debt
2 Amount that can be accumulated
3 Evaluating Sleep Debt
4 Sleep debt is useful
5 Sleep robbers
6 External links

Accumulating Sleep Debt

One of the easiest ways to accumulate a sleep debt is by using an alarm clock. If someone regularly needs an alarm clock to awaken at the right time in the morning, they are probably incurring a sleep debt.

Since the average person probably needs more than the 8 hours sleep thought to be needed in Western cultures, it is easy to accumulate sleep debt.

Typically, for every two hours awake, the average person accumulates a little more than one hour of sleep debt.

Low quality sleep does not relieve sleep debt as well as deeper high quality sleep. For someone suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea, and whose sleep may be interrupted hundreds of times a night, they often get little relief from their sleep debt despite spending more time in bed than other people.

Amount that can be accumulated

Many people can accumulate 30 or 40 hours of a sleep debt, and show no obvious signs of impairment. However, a doctor can test the reaction time, and other performance factors, to show that the person is not operating at peak performance.

Working against the individual's desire to fall asleep are what are called alerting factors. These can include stimulants, both in the form of drugs like caffeine, and also psychological triggers such as stress.

Accumulating 50 to 60 hours of sleep debt can be dangerous. Some people, after accumulating this much sleep debt, are susceptible to sudden dropping into short periods of micro-sleep. This can happen during repetive activities such as driving, especially when the individual has had a recent relief of stressful situations.

Evaluating Sleep Debt

Sleep debt can be tested through the use of a sleep latency test. This test measures how easily someone can fall asleep. When this test is done several times during the day, it is called a multiple sleep latency test (MSLT).

However, you don't need to go to a sleep clinic, you can get an idea of your sleep debt at home. Try this simple test: Relax quietly in the afternoon in a peaceful place. If you feel the need to go to sleep, then you probably have a sleep debt. If you can consistently fall asleep during the day in less than 5 minutes, you could have a severe sleep debt.

Sleep debt is useful

If you have no sleep debt, it is impossible to fall asleep, no matter how boring the surroundings!

Sleep debt needs to be properly managed to allow the individual to get to sleep, and stay asleep, at the proper times.

Sleep robbers

Some things that can rob you of a good night's sleep, help cause sleep debt to accumulate include:

  • Pets in the bedroom
  • Alcohol within 6 hours of bedtime
  • Obstructive sleep apnea (loud snoring accompanied by gaps in breathing.)
  • Caffeine within 6 hours of bedtime
  • Too much light entering the bedroom at the wrong time
  • Doing mentally stimulating things in bed, like office work
  • Having a sleeping partner with untreated sleep apnea. Cure their sleep apnea with the help of a doctor, and the sleep of two people is improved!

External links