Sleep Deprivation and Hypnosis, Essay Example

Sleep deprivation has been defined by WebMD (2009) as a sufficient lack of sleep that restores health over long period and results to physical symptoms that affect the normal task performance. Someone with sleep deprivation can be spotted if he dozes off when he has been inactive for long, poor concentration and irritable mood changes during the day, yawning constantly, behavior that is hyperactive in children, frequent naps during the day and reluctance in the morning when getting out of bed.

Apart from not allowing enough time for sleep, other causes of sleep deprivation could be depression or worrying excessively, disruptions while sleeping for example by noise, illness that causes pain and other difficulties while sleeping, sleep disorders, long working hours that extend till late at night or travelling between countries that have different time zones and anything else that could cause poor quality of sleep. Sometimes parents could also experience deprivation of sleep when they have young children who keep waking up during the night seeking for attention. These causes can therefore be classified in terms of health complications, clinical disorders, lifestyle, effects due to medication and the sleeping environment.

The only way to manage sleep as advised by Morley (n.d) is by developing simple ways on how to sleep. His suggestions were; frequent naps during the day and planning them with watches, using stimulants in very small quantities, incases where one works with shifts at night an intake of small snacks of high carbohydrate boosts the body’s energy level and prevents drowsiness, creating a comfortable sleeping arrangement for those working at night, have a snack of high protein just before sleeping because it will help sustain hunger for a longer time and will therefore allow an uninterrupted sleep.

The common consequences of sleep deprivation have been seen to affect the normal performance of tasks on a daily basis. These effects are due to both physical and mental impairments which cause inability to handle stress and emotions, think straight and low maintenance of the immune system. It becomes hard to solve problems hence poor decision making skills because the brain is unable to come up with innovative ideas. Lack of adequate sleep can result to sudden weight gain and can also make someone seem to see things that are not present which is also known as hallucination. A person who has not had enough rest can also result to having diseases like hypertension, depression, tremors, heart disease, irritability, slurred speech and slower reaction times.

Besides the few tips mentioned above on how to manage sleep, there are others that one can apply to ensure they enough sleep. These are:- ensuring that the bedroom is dark and quiet enough as this enhances sleep, read something relaxing just before bed and avoid watching TV before bed, getting to bed earliest possible, maintaining a conducive bedroom temperature because too high or too low might disrupt sleep, avoiding foods that the body might be sensitive to, a hot bath before bed facilitates sleep, maintaining a bedtime routine and avoiding instances that might make one wake up at night to go to the bathroom by avoiding fluids before bed and going to the bathroom right before bed.

Hypnosis is defined as a deep sleeplike state where a person’s act can be controlled by another person. Quigley (2009) states that for at least two hundred years, hypnosis has been used as a subordinate in surgical procedures. It was used before the discovery of anesthesia and as a substitute of anesthesia even after its discovery. However, it is no longer used in that manner because the hospital personnel are not well educated on hypnosis and therefore have very little to deliver to their patients. It is also not effective in all people because not all people are hypnotizable.

References

Morley F.R.N. (n.d). Sleep Deprivation. Retrieved on October 27, 2009 from http://www.searoom.com/sleep1.htm

Quigley D. (2009). Alchemy Institute of Hypnosis. Hypnoyically Assisted Surgical Anaesthesia. Retrieved on October 27, 2009 from http://www.alchemyinstitute.com/hypnotic-a

WebMD (2009). Better Information. Better Health. Retrieved on October 27, 2009 from http://dictionary.wedmd.com/terms/sleep-deprivation.html