Sleep Deprivation

Not getting enough sleep is linked to many health problems You probably won't notice or develop any serious health issues now (assuming you're still young) but in the long run it will certainly affect your health one way or another I assume you're more on the younger side so I've heard problems such as mood swings, depression or fatigue (too tired to do much), weight gain (not active enough), etc. And if you continue getting less sleep even when you're pretty old, it can be linked to heart disease, diabetes, headaches, etc. I'm sure there's more but you could always research it, there's a lot of info about it online.

Of course, these risks also depend on how you act when you're awake Tbh, I'm sure teens/people in 20's could care less about sleeping though. When I was in college, 5h of sleep was kind of normal. But below that everyday is kind of dangerous. Many teens, people in mid 20s and such do stay up late, get less sleep, and are fine. It's just like when you're older is could become really serious xD

 

Yeah its not a good thing

 

Yeah, it's an accumulated thing. In the short term it will weaken your immune system. I used to sleep very little as well, although lately it's been the opposite. Sleep deprivation by way of simply staying awake for as long as you can will gives you effects that you can feel pretty quickly. Longest I was awake was around 80 hours or so, and you just start to feel odd. Everything is hazy and dream-like, your memory is shot, eyes are sore, slightly dizzy, sometimes just feel sick, not to mention visual distortions and slight hallucinations. I would see flashes in the corners of my eyes, and shadows that moved like people but not when I looked directly at them. The longer it goes on the more intense they can get.

 

If you get used to sleeping exactly five hours everyday and are constant about it, it'll be almost the same thing as sleeping eight, because your nervous system will get used to it and do a lot more REM (The part of the sleep cycle that refreshes you). Less than that can be dangerous, unless you follow a polyphasic sleep schedule. Google it, it's very interesting. If in the future I work freelance at something, or am given little nap-breaks, I hope to be able to do the Everyman sleep schedule, which in time lets you sleep two hours a day with little consequences (You only get cravings for little things you synthetise on the other parts of the sleeping cycle, which of course you get little to nothing of, since your brain jumps to REM as soon as you fall asleep.)

As I said, google it, because there's a lot to it.

 

What I did like an year or two ago, was make my computer automatically shut down half an hour before I'd actually have to sleep to be able to sleep five hours, with a two minute notice to save what I was doing or say goodbye if I was chatting with someone or something. The other half hour I read or something like that to get less excited, and then I turned off the lights and fell asleep in a minute. After a week or so, I was never tired, sleeping 5 hours a day, only when I like, did a lot of exercise.