Many of us have suffered with sleepless nights at one time or another. And the more frequently it happens, the more you will feel the effects during the day.
One doctor has now shared a test that aims to show people whether or not they are sleep-deprived. It tests the brain's perception skills and therefore whether the mind is functioning fully.
Dr Karan Raj posted the test on his TikTok. He has gained millions of viewers for his videos, which have advice for various health issues. The sleep one, entitled "Take this sleep deprivation test", has been viewed more than 3.5 million times, reports the Mirror.
The video shows an illustration of a brightly-coloured street scene with people on the pavement, buses on the road and buildings in the background, with the image flashing black every second or two. It's supposed to give you an indication as to whether a lack of sleep is affecting your perception skills and overall concentration. The bad news is that if you didn't notice the scene altering each time - including both big and small changes - you probably need to be going to bed earlier.
Dr Raj says: "Are sleep deprived? Take a look at this scene. If you're not sleeping enough you will experience very short blackouts called microsleeps and these can make you miss things right in front of your eyes.
"Did you notice the bus changing colour, or the disappearing buildings? Or the kid running towards the street?
"If you need an alarm clock to wake you up in the mornings, or fall asleep within five minutes of getting into bed, or need coffee or energy drinks to keep you up during the day, you might want to spend more time in bed."
But if you are struggling to sleep, Dr Raj provided a trick that might be able to help, saying that going to sleep in poorly ventilated rooms can raise the level of carbon dioxide, which in turn can disrupt your sleep. So he advises keeping a window open - which also drops the temperature of your body, triggering your brain that it's time to sleep.
