Cradled in the arms of digitalization, today's world has undoubtedly made rapid progress in every possible field imaginable. These giant leaps from mankind, however, have left them vulnerable to the consequences of their own creations. The looming threat of nuclear wars, alarming rate of pollution, increasing isolation, and a pandemic. Not the biological epidemic occurring worldwide, no. Instead, a new kind of pandemic has now terrorized the world on a global scale: sleep deprivation. Today’s globally digitalized world with startling data of surge in social media use and screen time, along with its capitalist society that places quantity above quality, has driven people to extreme limits of productivity, rendering them almost chronically deficient in sleep. This disease has universally persecuted the citizens, leaving them at risk of severe repercussions, such as cardiovascular failure, as well as deteriorating mental health.
One prominent cause of lack of sleep in today’s people is their prioritization of productivity. Unlike the ancients, today’s modern people are extremely ambitious, as since the world has been moving at a swift pace, its people feel obligated to keep up with it. Long hours of work with little to no sleep, body functioning on caffeine, no moments of rest for the body: these have become common occurrences. The corporate world itself is like a giant leech that sucks off blood from the people who work for it. Here sleep is associated with laziness and unproductivity. Even extremely influential people such as Bill Gates subtly advocate for working and yielding results, seeming almost proud of their ‘productive’ selves, that in actuality is tormented by insufficient rest. Not only the adults, the students too feel they have miles to go before they sleep. I say so as I write this essay at one in the morning, anxious of missing the deadline.
Another indistinct yet important contributing factor to the majority’s sleep-deprivation is stress. Stress impairs one’s sleep, by fragmenting it. As one wakes up lacking adequate sleep, their body swells with more stress hormones, once again disrupting their sleep. This leaves them in a vicious cycle, a battle with one’s own mind. There is a surge in mood disorders among people nowadays, attributed to stress of accumulating enough resources for survival, emotional problems, and substance abuse. Furthermore, there is also a psychological aspect to this issue. Many people today, especially the teens, prefer the solitude of the night time. They feel their body to be more active and productive at night. But this is just an illusion. The number of hours slept isn't the only thing that matters, the time at which one sleeps does too.
However, the most important cause to this issue still remains to be the excess use of social media and escalating screen time. Companies such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are not our allies: their whole policy revolves on making their apps more addictive. Behind their brand logo, they have thousands of employees lined up working on making social media more appealing to us. Moreover, use of social sites makes our brain release dopamines, the ‘feel-good’ hormones, keeping us hooked. Hence, one must rethink twice on browsing their favorite social site before going to bed. It leaves your mind engaged, tricking it into thinking that it isn’t tired. With the gears of our mind turning so quickly, sleep naturally is impossible.
As a result of inadequate sleep, our body suffers from numerous consequences, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, rise in blood pressure, depression, and ultimately premature mortality. A research by Kochanek and Murphy on sleep deprivation states “Reduced sleep duration has been linked to seven of the 15 leading causes of death in the US, including cardiovascular disease, malignant neoplasm, cerebrovascular disease, accidents, diabetes, septicemia, and hypertension.” These data displayed are not statistics of insomniacs, but people like you and me. We who neglect a few hours of sleep for less-important tasks. People immerse themselves in their works so deeply, that they eventually forget who they themselves are.
Literally. Yes, insufficient sleep can increase the possibility of dementia. Besides physical harm to the body mentioned above, sleep deprivation can also ruin our mental sanity. It disrupts the cognitive functioning of one’s body, impairing their creativity, memory, and productivity. It is ironic how people sacrifice sleep in the name of productivity, yet all it results in is an even more reduced scale of productivity. Besides the obsession on overworking, the momentary pleasure received from social media is also an illusion. A person with more than four hours of screen time in social media is exposed to seeds for sowing future problems, such as body dysmorphia, insecurities, and reduced confidence.
Hence, it is thoroughly not worthwhile to sacrifice sleep for the present milestones, as it is sure to cause trouble for our future selves. This great pandemic emerging in our world, will plague your body with numerous illnesses: both physical and mental. However, despite statistics displaying alarming data, the number of chronically sleep-deprived people is only rising. It is a severe issue requiring immediate attention and mitigation. The most effective one would be people themselves realizing the slow poison they are soaking in, and putting an end to this mad culture of self-destruction.
Samikshya Bhatta
BA 3rd Year
St Xavier’s College, Maitighar
