Life is often busy and stressful. We know that a good night’s sleep is important to our physical and mental health, but when we don’t have enough time, sleep is usually the first sacrifice.

How many times have you said to yourself: “It’s okay, I’ll make up for it on weekends.”

Unfortunately, many studies have shown that repairing lack of sleep is not easy. Recent studies even show that lack of sleep for three consecutive nights can have a significant negative impact on physical and mental health.

Symptoms of sleep deprivation include difficulty concentrating, processing memory, and mood disorders. Insufficient sleep can also increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, poor mental health, and premature death. Sleep Foundation report.

Researchers at the University of South Florida analyzed the consequences of sleeping less than six hours a night for eight consecutive nights and found that sleep deprivation symptoms increased the most after one night of lack of sleep.

The mental and physical symptoms associated with sleep deprivation subsequently steadily increased, reaching a peak on the third day. But just when the body seemed to adapt to lack of sleep, the physical symptoms became worse when the lack of sleep for the sixth consecutive day.

“Many of us think that we can pay off our sleep debts on weekends and improve work efficiency during workdays,” Say researcher Soomi Lee, Assistant Professor, School of Aging Research, University of South Florida. “However, the results of this study show that just one night of lack of sleep can significantly impair your daily functions.”

Symptoms of sleep deprivation reported by participants included anger, nervousness, loneliness, irritability, and depression. They also experienced upper respiratory problems, pain, gastrointestinal problems, and other physical health problems.

Researchers found that these symptoms became worse after multiple days of sleep deprivation, and only returned to baseline levels after sleeping for more than 6 hours.

Lee stated that almost one-third of American adults sleep less than 6 hours a night. In an earlier study of hers, she found that even 16 minutes of missing sleep can have an adverse effect on job performance.

Data shows that even a slight lack of sleep can reduce daily mindfulness, which is indispensable for managing stress and maintaining a healthy daily life. She said that the best way to maintain good work performance and good physical and mental health is to free up more than six hours of sleep each night.

The study included data on nearly 2,000 middle-aged people with relatively good health who were enrolled in the US middle-aged group. It was published in Behavioral Medicine Yearbook.

42% of participants did not get enough sleep for at least one night, and they slept 1.5 hours less than usual. During the study period, all participants were asked to report their mental and physical behaviors in their diaries.

Another recent studyResearch published in the journal Nature Communications found that people between the ages of 50 and 60 who sleep less than 6 hours a night are 30% more likely to suffer from dementia than those who sleep 7 hours.

Researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder and the Broad Institute of MIT also proposed, sleeping time Can affect mental health.

according to Mayo Clinic, Adhering to the sleep schedule and creating an environment conducive to sleep in the bedroom can help people get a better sleep.