The official definition of sleep debt is sleep deprivation seen on weekdays versus weekends. In 2017, a study revealed that 54% of French people considered that the duration of their sleep was insufficient and that they slept on average 1 hour more on weekends compared to the week, which proves that many French people suffer from sleep debt.
What are the causes ?
This sleep debt can be caused by different things, first of all there is sleep apnea syndrome or restless leg syndrome (subjects that we will cover in a future article), but the causes can also be common : snoring (thank your other half who prevents you from sleeping), getting up too often at night (thank you little bladder) or simply going to bed too late (thank you Netflix, smartphones and other gadgets).
But, is it serious?
The main consequence of sleep debt is drowsiness. This can itself be the cause of concentration problems, severe fatigue and reduced alertness. fatalities on highways. So it would seem, indeed, that sleep debt could be a pretty serious problem.
Sleep debt can also affect your mood, you are more irritable and less able to fight your stress when you are tired, which can cause you problems in your personal or professional life in terms of communication. When your sleep debt accumulates, it can lead you to a feeling of great fatigue, exhaustion which can even lead you to Burn-Out.
You now know what this term "sleep debt" consists of, know that it is recommended to sleep a minimum of 6 hours per night, or even more according to your needs.
So all to your Good evening sheets (mmm they are soft), we go to bed early tonight to catch up on our own sleep debt (at least we will have tried).
With a bit of luck, that will save us from starting the day tomorrow with the only desire to go back to bed!
