Swollen eyes, dark circles, dull skin on your face are not the only outcomes of sleep deprivation. Research over the years has linked sleep or the lack of it to your social life, your success, and how you treat people around you.

Research by Rachel Salas, MD from Johns Hopkins University says that a good night’s sleep can rejuvenate you to make you willing to give back to society. A sleep of fewer than five hours per night for adults can make them irritable, annoying, and even reveal negative emotions in them. Your mental health is a function of the hormones that are secreted by your brains, and optimal balance in them can be achieved by proper sleep.

How much sleep do you need?

The requirements of sleep time and the circadian cycle of every individual are unique, and depended on their gender, age, working conditions, and physical exercise. Some studies have shown that for adults between the ages of 20 to 55 years, it requires eight hours of sleep. They also recommend that it must be a minimum of five hours to help the brain and body to heal and nourish itself.

If your sleep cycle is irregular or is disturbed by distractions, sounds, or light, then even lying down for more hours would not help you. With a little practice, preparation and scheduling, you can make your body go to sleep instantly when you are ready for it. Soldiers, surgeons, firefighters and many other people are taught how to catch quality sleep with minimal effort.

Five-hour sleep for a better society!

Sleep deprivation interferes with your brain’s ability to filter and create long-term memories and enhance your productivity. A study, in the journal Nature Communications, found that sleep deprivation causes people to feel lonely, introvert, and uncomfortable in the company of others.

Sleep-deprived people are also more likely to be affected by depression, anxiety, anger issues, and alcohol & substance abuse. Such people become more inward-looking and self-centered, affecting their family and work lives. It can cause increased separations, domestic violence, divorces, and severe strain on the children in such environments.

Final Note

Sleep-deprived loneliness and social isolation significantly increase community health problems, mortality risk, many mental and physical comorbidities, social unease, and domestic and other kinds of violence. Therefore, when you get at least a five-hour sound sleep, you are helping build a sound and calming family, workplace and society.