Adequate sleep is essential for good overall health in body and mind. Clemson University reported, that poor sleep habits are associated with increased self-control risks. According to the researchers at Clemson University poor sleep habits can have a negative effect on self-control.
The negative effect on self-control from poor sleep habits presents risks to a person’s personal and professional interests. Clemson psychologists have concluded a sleep-deprived person is at increased risk for giving into impulsive desires, inattentiveness and decision-making which is questionable. June Pilcher, Clemson Alumni Distinguished Professor of psychology and one of the authors of the study, says this study investigated how sleep habits and self-control are connected and how sleep habits and self-control may work together to affect how a person functions on a daily basis.
It has been shown in previous studies that people working in today’s intense 24-hour-a-day global economy often do not sleep as much as they should or they sleep at irregular times. This results in poor sleep and chronic sleep loss and affects a person’s decision-making. The exercise of self-control helps a person make better choices when presented with various conflicting desires and opportunities.
Health problems such as weight gain, hypertension and chronic illness may be associated with poor sleep habits. Sleep deprivation also decreases self-control and results in increased hostility in people. This can lead to serious problems at work and at home. Improving sleep habits can help to contribute to a more stable level of energy reserves on a daily basis which can improve a person’s ability to make more challenging choices.
This study has been published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. It is important for successful functioning to have good sleep habits and effective self-control. It is unfortunate that chronic sleep loss and impaired self-control happen often for many people. This can result in problems with daily self-control issues such the resistance of impulses and maintaining attentive behavior.
Poor sleep habits can also lead to misdiagnoses of serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder by the psychiatrists. The psychiatrists are consistently incompetent and unethical in such manners as highlighted by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights. It should therefore be considered that improving sleep habits may improve long-term health and productivity.