HEALTH & WELLNESS
The 3 Catastrophic Health Effects of Living a Hustler’s Lifestyle
As it turns out, hustle culture destroys our bodies. It’s addicting, but we must be certain to leave it behind.
Someone may have told you to forget about your health. Focus instead on working every day for as many hours as you can. Every day of the week. And for months with little sleep.
But in reality, you’re mistaken. Hustling like this is unhealthy. Not sleeping depletes your body of resources and strains your body’s organs. You feel rattled and sleepy, worn down and sick. And somehow, despite all of this, you might be tempted to stay awake even longer.
The truth is that hustle culture has had a major impact on the world. Much of the thinking is centered on needing to accomplish everything at once. That is, accomplish everything at once rather than maintain a consistent effort toward your goals.
But if you work until you don’t sleep, you can still start a healthier lifestyle. Understand how not sleeping is destroying your body.
Historically, people have suffered AND thrived by not sleeping
Turns out, the world’s greatest minds have done it abnormally for centuries. These individuals are extremely exceptional and their names are easily recognizable in public.
* Thomas Edison, a polyphasic sleeper who slept 20 minutes every 3 hours, thought sleep was for the lazy, so he often completed up to three days of work without rest.
* Vincent Van Gogh had a habit of healing his insomnia by drenching his linens with camphor, a relative of turpentine, which may have pushed him closer to suicide.
* Nikola Tesla, inventor of the remote control, the radio, and induction motor slept for a mere two hours a day.
* Isaac Newton, the most renowned mathematician and astronomer suffered a bout of exhaustion after working intensely and sleeping for only 3–4 hours a day.
* Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a monophasic sleeper, getting about five hours between 1 and 6 in the morning.
While these historical figures made great contributions to society, their sleep habits led to debilitating health problems. They endured painful diseases and lapses in judgment. And they suffered regularly with mental health problems that haunted them during every waking moment.
Fueled by caffeine and delirium, yet managing to create and thrive, the listed individuals’ behaviors pose an important question for us to answer today: should you put your health at risk to push yourself harder, so long as doing so means you can accomplish even more?
Many people may suggest that you should, as accomplishing the minimum is only what’s required. But it’s when you ignore self-care that you have a recipe for disease and sickness, as all you’re doing is wearing out your body, setting unsustainable expectations, and sticking to an unhealthy lifestyle that’s hurting your health as you age. And the worst part about this process is that you don’t even notice it’s happening.
So, here’s how hustle culture and not sleeping is destroying your body
Most people would cry thinking of the hours Van Gogh and Mozart worked and slept. They’d wonder if the brilliant folks would have lived healthier if they’d slept more often.
But when you add to the exhaustion and the grogginess, the brain fog, and the irritability, altogether you come away with a depressed mood. Even worse are the illnesses that come with overworking. For starters…
1. You develop a risk for heart disease and cancer
As the hours tick by without sleep, your heart beats faster. Your blood pressure skyrockets as your body produces inflammation-causing chemicals.
Meanwhile, the toll this process takes on your heart increases your risk for heart disease. In fact, studies show almost half of people who don’t sleep well had an increased risk for developing coronary heart disease.
So, clearly, where matters of the heart are concerned, the dangers are silent. The destruction in your body is sustained, continuing each day without your awareness.
Meanwhile, cancer sneaks up at you, stopping the cell renewal process and destroying existing cells in the process. Research from Johns Hopkins says cancer can come after years of sleep disruption.
But interestingly, the symptoms of these cancers can keep you up all night, anyway. So, not sleeping today can harm your body, and in the future, make sleep even more elusive.
Remember, life is too short for too many sleepless nights. Yet 30–35% of sleepers have brief insomnia lasting a few days to several weeks, with 15–20% suffering short-term insomnia which equals less than three months of no Zs.
Even if you’re among the 10% with chronic insomnia, sleep is possible. As long as by the end of the day you’ve convinced yourself you’ve done the best that you could. Not drawing this conclusion is what’s keeping you working for hours. And it’s those extra hours that are beginning to take a toll on your life.
2. You get sicker more often, and for longer
Your immune system is tough enough to develop antibodies in response to an illness. Those antibodies might prevent you from catching that illness again. But according to Everyday Health, falling ill with the cold or flu exhausts your body. The constant exhaustion from being sick subjects you to many terrible ailments, all thanks to your compromised immune system which is weakened from weeks without sleep.
What you need to remember is that these illnesses keep you functioning at a lower capacity. So, if you’re someone who finds comfort in overworking, you won’t see the real impact on your health. To clarify:
* Sickness depletes your body’s resources. Fighting a cold or flu requires so much energy that the body uses fat to get your immune system working. You feel tired as your body fights to stay strong and your body is less capable of fighting off more serious illnesses.
* Your hearing is at risk. Congestion causes a buildup of fluid that can damage the nerves in the cochlea, causing sensorineural hearing loss, which can later turn into constant ringing in your ears (persistent tinnitus) or fluctuating hearing loss (hearing loss that changes or worsens over time).
* Illness is painful. From body aches to vomiting, falling ill repeatedly can force you to rely on over-the-counter medications like Ibuprofen or Motrin. Relief might be only temporary, and heavy prescription drug use can pose serious risks to the liver.
* Your body stays hungry. Being sick often can affect your appetite. Your body releases cytokines, a small protein essential to the healthy cell functioning in your immune system. You won’t want to eat anything solid and malnourishment becomes a concern. Your body struggles to get enough nutrients when you find yourself repeatedly ill.
* You’re at risk for pneumonia. At one point, 1.5 million people were diagnosed with pneumonia, an infection of the lungs that causes the air sacs to fill with liquid. About a third of people who experience pneumonia get it from a respiratory virus, most commonly the flu, so it’s safe to say you don’t want to catch influenza too often. Especially if you want to avoid the risk of catching pneumonia.
A healthier human can get plenty of sleep, preserving their body for another day of work. But you might be a worn-out and depleted individual, so you’re not only falling apart on the inside. In addition…
3. Your skin becomes wrinkled and thin
While clear, moist, healthy skin is likely important to you, unhealthy skin is a sign of trouble brewing in your body. In response to days without sleep and hours of strenuous work, wrinkled, pale, and acne-filled skin takes over.
It happens and here’s what’s happening: your body is producing more cortisol. That’s the stress hormone that you might not know can unleash havoc on your skin. The result is a breakdown of the proteins that you need to keep your skin shining, as well as the appearance of wrinkles and less elastic skin.
Remember, you can feel great about smooth, hydrated skin.
But the process of skin decline will always be tough on your mind and body, as unhealthy skin shows up within days of poor sleep. Ironically, unhealthy skin might also motivate you, as people may not want to sleep when dissatisfied with what’s staring at them in the mirror.
To stop the cycle, remember that your internal body temperature drops at night, so try a dip in a warm shower to create the ideal temperature for sleep. Then, you can end the evening with some calming skincare products, and finally, put more work towards the back of your mind.
Now, you’re ready to take a final step forward.
Change how you think about hustle culture and sleeping
Try to address the worries about falling asleep. Doing so can help you change your thoughts about getting some shut-eye. Confront them with a question by asking, reasonably, “Will an accident occur?” “Will I not wake up?” Haven’t I gotten enough done?” Then, weigh the benefits of trying to work longer and get sleep. You’ll see that with the long-term health risks in mind, your decision is clear.
Start today by choosing to let go. The health concerns you’ll face in the future are far from pleasant.
Cancer, unhealthy skin, and heart disease can catch you off guard. So, the next time you push yourself too hard, pay attention to what you’re feeling. That’s your body’s initial warning, encouraging you to stop and go to bed, and avoid the risks that come from years and years without sleep.
Originally published at https://vocal.media.
