Sleep Deprivation and Circadian Disruption: Stress, Allostasis, and Allostatic Load.

Sleep has important homeostatic functions, and circadian rhythms organize physiology and behavior on a daily basis to insure optimal function. Sleep deprivation and circadian disruption can be stressors, enhancers of other stressors that have consequences for the brain and many body systems. Whether the origins of circadian disruption and sleep disruption and deprivation are from anxiety, depression, shift work, long-distance air travel, or a hectic lifestyle, there are consequences that impair brain functions and contribute to the cumulative wear and tear on body systems caused by too much stress and/or inefficient management of the systems that promote adaptation.