Volitional Sleep Deprivation, or excessive daytime sleepiness, hits about 30% of American adults. Chronic sleep deprivation can affect your health, wellness - and life.

There is a very serious disorder plaguing the United States right now and it doesn’t involve a virus or eating too much. It has nothing to do with alcohol or substance abuse.  No, the epidemic I am referring to is known as Volitional Sleep Deprivation also known as excessive daytime sleepiness.  There are many reasons for EDS, some of which are medical or psychological but the focus of this article is the lack of sleep related to chronic sleep deprivation.  This is directly related to your health and wellness.

The prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness is reported to be as high as 30% of the adult population.  The consequences of the EDS can be quite serious.  The incidence rate of car accidents attributed to EDS (people falling asleep) is as high as 100,000 a year with 1,500 of those resulting in fatalities.  Amazingly, that number may surpass the number of alcohol related deaths in young people.

In addition there are economic and public health problems that result from lack of sleep. There have been many industrial disasters, such as those at Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Bhopal, have been officially attributed to errors in judgment caused by sleepiness in the workplace.  Children do not perform as well at school when they do not sleep enough.

Because of the high numbers of people affected by excessive daytime sleepiness and the serious dangers associated with the disorder, it is important that physicians, educators, and public policy makers take this issue as seriously as they do the problems of drinking and driving, drug abuse and obesity. There needs to be education given to society on the very real needs of people to get adequate sleep each night or day. Unfortunately people wear their lack of sleep as a badge often feeling as though they are more productive because they sacrifice themselves. This as you have read could not be further from the truth.

As previously stated, the most common cause of excessive daytime sleepiness is chronic sleep deprivation. We sleep 25% less than our ancestors did just a century ago. We need the same amount of sleep as they did and we are not getting it. The reason the disorder is called Volitional Sleep Deprivation is because we chose not to sleep the amount we need. Our deprivation is often the result of social or economic factors.

One of the reasons we are no longer sleeping as much as we should is because of the availability of resources via our computers.  You can shop, do online banking, conduct business, “surf” the web, or chat at any time of night by simply logging on.  The additional problem with using the computer at night is that the light from the screen does not allow the needed levels of melatonin to flow through the bloodstream and allow you to fall asleep or to even feel sleepy.

There is actually no set number of hours for all people to sleep.  Each person needs a different amount to feel restored and rested each morning.  The average number of hours needed is between 7 and 8 hours a night (or session).  That number however can range from 4 to 10 hours depending on the adult.  Again this is determined by the way a person feels when they awake.  If you are constantly being awakened by the alarm clock, you are not sleeping enough and will suffer the consequences of EDS.  Sadly, you cannot work all week and deprive yourself of sleep thinking you can make up for it on the weekend. Sleep is not cumulative you must sleep adequately each night.  You also cannot build up a tolerance to sleep deprivation.  Listen to your body before your body forces you to listen!

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By Christina Leon, Staff Writer