Most of us are already aware that not getting enough sleep is bad. But did you know that among other consequences, lack of sleep can actually KILL you? 

This article is for me as much as it is for you. Tired? Yep, that’s me. My head has met the wooden surface of countless desks during countless classes. It’s puzzling really. I’d sleep in class, miss notes and then lose sleep at night to catch up on what I missed. In this day and age, do we really even have enough time to sleep? How bad can not sleeping possibly be? Well, I did some research and found five deadly consequences of getting in less than around seven hours of sleep.

 1. Less sleep = more sickness

According to ‘Medical News Today’ studies have shown that a lack of sleep causes your body’s immune system to weaken. Think of your immune system as your personal army. Your body trains this army to defend you during sleep. So if you don’t sleep enough, you’re gonna have some weak soldiers and you’ll probably get really sick.

2. Tiredness will mad yuh!

According to Business Insider, research has shown that people who don’t get enough sleep tend to have a harder time controlling their impulses. Not sleeping enough makes you irritable. (We never needed a scientist to tell us this one). 

3. Lack of sleep may cause weight gain

In studies linked to the point above, it was found that one of the impulses affected the most by not sleeping enough is your impulse to eat. Oftentimes, the impulse to eat unhealthy food heightens. So maybe you should add some sleep to your diet too. 

4. No sleep, no memories

According to WebMD, studies have also shown that it is during your sleep cycle that your brain replays events that occurred during the day. Therefore, not sleeping enough makes it harder for you to retain things. For the fans of the band 5SOS, you may just actually wake up with amnesia and forget about the stupid little things, but sleeping for only five seconds of summer will make you forget really important things too.

5. Not sleeping kills

More research done by Business Insider has shown that there seems to be a relationship between sleep and longevity. Statistics point heavily to the fact that the less you sleep, the shorter your lifespan, especially if you don’t get at least seven hours of sleep a day. So are you really getting more time out of your life by staying awake? 

Despite how scary this may seem, the good news is that studies have also revealed that you can ‘catch up’ on sleep. So yes, you can literally make up for the lack of sleeping hours you put in a day or two before. So for the students out there who had to toil hard at nights during the exam period, this summer is a perfect opportunity to catch up on some Z’s. For those of us in the working world, use the free time you have to get in some genuine shut-eye. You’ll be grateful for it!

–Fabrizio Darby