Sleep Debt: How To Make Up For Lost Sleep & Why It Matters

Chances are good that you need more sleep. According to the CDC, around one in three American adults get less than seven hours of sleep per night. And trying to catch up on the weekends may not be enough. Just one hour of sleep deprivation1 takes up to four days of optimal sleep to bounce back from. 

Think of your body like a bank, and each night you're depositing a set amount of money into it. If you miss your "payment" one night, you'll owe more money the next night to make up for it. Sleep deprivation accumulates in this way. "Sleep is indeed like a bank account, and each night one gets less than the recommended amount counts as a draw on the funds," explains Alex Dimitriu, M.D., a double board-certified doctor specializing in psychiatry and sleep medicine. "For someone well rested, missing one hour of sleep on one night often has quite a minimal impact. Over time, however, the missed hours begin to add up."

The more sleep-deprived you are, the more serious the health effects can become. 

Acute sleep deprivation is what happens when you get significantly less sleep one night—say you pulled an all-nighter to work or study. 

Chronic sleep deprivation occurs when you get less than ideal sleep over an extended period of time. Perhaps you slept six and a half hours every night for a month. You may not notice the effects after one day, but over time, you'll start to experience symptoms consistent with long-term sleep deprivation. 

Besides making you feel irritable and groggy, sleep deprivation can have seriously negative impacts on your ability to function. People who sleep less than seven to nine hours per night experience problems with alertness, attention span, and focus, and some studies have shown that sleep deprivation has long-term effects on memory and brain function2. 

"Our brain and the body's physiology requires sleep to function well and properly," Eva Selhub, M.D., tells mbg. "It is during sleep that your body recovers and the immune system works to heal anything that requires fixing. Without sleep, the physiological balance and regulation is off, which will lead to not only short-term problems of fatigue, making mistakes, problem-solving issues, irritability or more mood changes, but long-term problems, like increased inflammation, changes in the circadian rhythm, increased activation of the stress response system, mood disorders and emotional distress, somatic pain, memory problems, and poor cognitive functioning and performance." 

She notes that over time, these symptoms can play a role in the onset of chronic conditions3 like high blood pressure, heart disease, weight problems, metabolic issues, and more. 

After a rough night when you didn't sleep as much as you'd intended, there are a few things you can do to make the next day a little better. "If your schedule does not allow you to actually spend more time in bed sleeping, you can take a 20-minute nap during the day and try to catch up on the weekends by sleeping longer by a couple of hours," explains Selhub. 

"Ideally, set up a routine to allow an eight-hour window for sleep each night," Dimitriu advises. "This is helped by doing quiet, relaxing, and even boring things in the hour before you intend to fall asleep." 

Rather than watching three episodes of Love Island before you hit the sack, cap it at one episode and then pick up a book instead. Try to avoid screens with blue light that might disrupt your melatonin levels4 before you go to bed. A cool room helps your body temperature drop more quickly (something your body naturally does to prepare for sleep5), so crank up that fan or A/C to create an optimal nighttime environment for yourself.

OTC and prescription sleep medications can help you if you need them, but they're typically not an ideal substitute for getting natural sleep. Instead, try a sleep-supporting supplement like magnesium,* which promotes a sense of calm and relaxation for deep, restorative sleep.*

Sleepless nights are no fun, and over time, they can wreak havoc on your ability to live a happy and productive life. As you start accruing sleep debt, you'll notice problems with focus, memory, and brain function—things you really don't want to sacrifice.