With the onset of busy holiday preparations on top of your normal routine, you may be tempted to push through the season with steely resolve. But it is important to listen to your body and give yourself plenty of rest.  According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), sufficient sleep is being recognized increasingly as an important part of health promotion and chronic disease prevention.  The CDC also explains that insufficient sleep is linked with chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and mental illnesses including depression and substance abuse. 

As a necessity for good health, adults (on average) need 7-9 hours of sleep a night and children and teens even more, this according to the National Sleep Foundation.  Nearly 30% of U.S. adults reported sleeping less than the minimum 7 hours required for optimal health and about 50-70 million reported chronic sleep and wakefulness disorders.  Though research is still being conducted about the concept of sleep needs, it has shown that lack of sleep can affect your productivity, your memory/recall and consolidation of information and lead to more serious health consequences.  Lastly, it could put you and others around you in jeopardy. Sleep deprivation is linked with an increased risk of motor vehicle accidents as it decreases your ability to pay attention and react.

So as your to-do list grows, ‘rest and sleep’ may not make your priority list, but it should. In the upcoming holiday months, remember that resting and getting sufficient sleep is a necessity not a luxury.  As Dennis Knox, CEO of Western Medical Center Anaheim, points out, “the best gift you can give to you and your family is yourself.” 

Resources: 

Centers for Disase Control and Prevention:  http://www.cdc.gov/media/storyideas/2010.html

National Sleep Foundation:  http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/how-sleep-works/how-much/sleep-do-we-really-need