How Being Sleep Deprived Alters a Brain Connection That Causes Fear and Anxiety

Your co-worker sluggishly walks into the office and tells you they were up all night working on their client pitch. Do you marvel at their dedication and commitment, or do you shrug it off and think, “Yeah, I’ve had plenty of those nights“? Odds are, your response would be the latter. After all, sleep is for the weak. It is not uncommon for us to push our bodies to an unhealthy point in hopes of reaching our goals, whether it’s being a good parent and taking care of your newborn, or pulling an all-nighter to cram for the bar exam. Being sleep deprived has become such a norm in today’s society that we often brush it off as an unavoidable part of our lives. Studies show that 31 percent of the Canadian and American population is sleep deprived. In fact the World Health Organization has claimed we are in the midst of a catastrophic sleep-loss epidemic.   Now perhaps you may be thinking, I’ve gotten through many nights with little sleep and managed to survive … What’s all this fuss about “sleep deprivation?” Well, although you may have physically ended the day in one piece (and perhaps felt accomplished for completing more work), unbeknownst to you, your brain took a much bigger hit. The link between sleep deprivation and brain pathways Research on sleep — or rather, lack of sleep — has revealed there are major side effects when you don’t get enough of it. This includes, among many other deleterious outcomes, increased negative emotiona...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Anxiety and Panic Brain and Behavior Health-related Industrial and Workplace Memory and Perception Motivation and Inspiration PTSD Research Self-Help Sleep Stress Cognitive Neuroscience Fear Hyperarousal Insomnia Negativity B Source Type: blogs