Sleep Deprivation and Homelessness

If you have ever had to get up and face the day after a night of rough or no sleep, then you know the value of this often overlooked but essential human medicine. Sleep keeps us alive and healthy. Without it we find it very difficult to get through our days, to follow through on plans, to think clearly, to maintain any kind of consistent energy level. We may even doze off in the middle of a conversation or worse. Maybe you’re one of the approximately 25 million people in the United States who suffers from insomnia (Benca 4) in which case you’re all too familiar with the crippling effects of sleep deprivation. 

Some of these negative impacts include:

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Hypertension

• Impaired cognition

As well as higher risks for:

• Stroke

• Cancer

• Obesity

• Diabetes  

If you have ever been without reliable shelter or a comfortable, safe place to sleep, then you’ve most certainly experienced chronic sleep deprivation on a level that most of us would have a hard time imagining, much less coping with. Sleep deprivation is one of the worst problems that unhoused people face, particularly as it tends to compound other issues related both to health and logistical concerns. This can result in a vicious cycle as a sleep deprived individual will understandably find it that much more difficult to access needed things such as food, clothing, or any number of other types of assistance.

Homelessness remains an issue with many causes, and potential solutions in the form of more affordable housing options, more and better access to resources, comprehensive legislation, and more community outreach. While all of those things are crucial and imperative, we must do what we can to improve access to beds and safe environments for our unhoused neighbors so that they can get the rest they need in order to avoid an already bad situation getting much worse.

Interim Strategies For Responding To Unsheltered Homelessness  

Sources

Benca, R. M., Bertisch, S. M., Ahuja, A., Mandelbaum, R., & Krystal, A. D. (2023). Wake Up America: National Survey of Patients' and Physicians' Views and Attitudes on Insomnia Care. Journal of clinical medicine, 12(7), 2498. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12072498

https://amerisleep.com/blog/homelessness-and-sleep/#the-cycle-of-homelessness-and-sleep-deprivation

https://www.hoffstettercounseling.com/post/10-negative-side-effects-of-sleep-deprivation

Illustration by Carly Fraser livelovefruit.com