Today you fall asleep anywhere. You are exhausted without having made any extra effort and you feel how your eyes are accidentally closed. You may have even taken a nap in front of the computer because your colleagues have asked you several times if you are okay. Perhaps you are suffering from daytime sleepiness as a result of poor quality sleep. Imagine that you have to take the car in that state. A dangerous consequence of insomnia is daytime sleepiness.
Causes and symptoms of daytime sleepiness
- It may be that you haven’t slept a wink for several days, you may have woken up a thousand times tonight, and it may be that, even though you slept, your sleep was not restful. But it could also be that you are taking a medication that makes you drowsy. In any case, daytime sleepiness presents as an uncontrollable feeling and an urgent need to sleep. Anywhere.
- Some people are not even able to recognize that they fall asleep during the day. They do realize how tired they are, that they need more sleep, or that they should make better use of sleep. But they are not aware of falling asleep because the nods caused by daytime sleepiness can be very brief and almost imperceptible. And therein lies the risk.
- Daytime sleepiness manifests itself in the form of frequent and uncontrollable yawning, blurred vision, difficulty concentrating, head shaking, and the need to close your eyes and sleep. It can occur at any time, especially if you are doing monotonous tasks or those that require little physical activity, such as riding the train, watching TV, working on the computer, or even driving.
Risks of daytime sleepiness
- That brief space of time, that moment when you fall asleep, is not dangerous if it happens to you while you are watching TV. Even if it happens to you in the office, it can be a bit violent, but without risk. However, if it happens to you while you are driving, a few seconds with your eyes closed is enough to cause an accident with unforeseeable consequences?
- Without going to extremes, daytime sleepiness has many other consequences that can affect your health, such as confusion, chronic fatigue, inattention, sudden mood swings, and weight gain, decreased defenses, and increased risk of anxiety and depression.
- That’s why it’s so important to avoid that daytime sleepiness. Unfortunately there is no specific treatment for this problem, but what must be solved is its origin, that is, insomnia. Checking whether you sleep enough hours or the reasons why you do not enjoy restful sleep is essential to find the remedy for daytime sleepiness.
