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No matter the illness, nearly every sickness has one recommended treatment in common: lots of rest. In today's world, resting when sick is considered a non-negotiable method of healing.
Getting extra rest when you’re sick doesn’t just give you a few hours of respite from unpleasant symptoms. Rest is like medicine for the immune system, ultimately helping you make a full recovery from an illness.
Rest is an important factor for coping with illness. The act of resting can vary individually. Also, rest is not the same as sleep. Examples of rest include sitting quietly and reading a book, relaxing while colouring, or staying home to watch a movie instead of going out.
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Rest gives your body time to repair itself, which you need when you’re sick. When you get sleepy, it forces you to slow down and give your body the time it needs to heal.
There are also certain immune processes that take place while you rest that can bolster your body’s ability to fight off an illness. If you get sleepy when you’re feeling under the weather, it may be your body’s way of trying to let those processes kick in.
10 Reasons resting when Sick is important
All diseases take their toll on the body, and that is why many times people feel weak during and in the days immediately after illness. Diseases that cause high fevers can further weaken and add stress to our physical condition. Here is a list of the reasons why resting is important when we are healing from an illness:
1) Recovery
Moving around and doing too much adds to the work that your body has to do. Resting has been shown to help the body fight back faster and, at times, better too.
Alongside rest, it is also important to consume enough nutrition so that you have the energy reserves needed to fight off the disease and recover.
2) Mental health
Rest is not just physical but also mental. Stress and anxiety also put pressure on the body during an illness, and increase blood pressure, which in turn impacts how well your body is able to cope with disease.
Ultimately, for a fast and safe recovery, it is important to give your body and mind a break by reducing the amount of overall exertion.
3) Creativity
When you take time to rest and relax, you are naturally more creative. Time off helps you refill your reserves. The quiet moments inspire reflection time, allowing you to break through creative barriers.
As a result, you experience increasing solutions to open-ended problems, such as inventing new uses for objects.
4) Productivity
Similar to other muscles, your brain is less functional when it's fatigued. You're always more productive after a restful period—one reason why Mondays are often filled with high-priority tasks or meetings: resting sharpens your brain.
Taking time off will allow you to work more efficiently whenever you get back to it. Set aside one day each week to unplug to improve productivity and feel a greater sense of accomplishment.
5) Decision-making
The term "sleep on it" is accurate because rest improves your ability to make decisions. Working too long without rest reduces your concentration and can deplete your emotional capacity.
Regularly scheduled breaks—daily and weekly—allow you to refresh your perspective and make better decisions. Rest is only significant when you purposefully do it. Here are some techniques you can implement in your daily schedule.
6) Reduces Stress
During stress, your body experiences fight or flight—physiological arousal—heightening your senses due to perceived danger. You may experience an increased heart rate and blood pressure during this state, slowed digestive functioning, increased hormone levels, and other responses.
Resting allows your body to return to its optimal levels of function and hormone excretion, reducing the level of stress put on the body.
7) Strengthens immune system
Your immune system relies on rest and sleep to stay healthy. When you are in the recovery process following an accident or a major surgery, your body is working hard to heal.
If you’re not getting enough rest, your immune system may become compromised, and you may have trouble fighting common infections. Thus, rest is the most important thing you need while you’re healing.
8) Resting replenishes your energy
The energy we need to heal cannot be replenished with food; it requires rest. A study was done on college students who had paper cuts. One group was allowed to sleep through the night.
The other group was prevented from reaching the deepest level of sleep (phase 4). The paper cuts healed for the group that slept, but not for the group that didn’t get deep sleep.
9) Resting supports tissue growth and regeneration
As you sleep, your brain triggers the release of hormones. Stage 3 slow-wave sleep in particular has been associated with increased levels of growth hormone, which aid in tissue repair and regeneration. When you’re in the recovery process following an illness, this is especially important.
10) Protects you from other conditions
While you sleep, your blood pressure dips, which gives your heart a rest and lowers your risk of high blood pressure and heart disease. Sleep also levels your hunger hormones.
Fatigue often causes people to overeat, and over time, this can increase the risk factor for obesity. Also, the body’s reaction to sleep deprivation resembles insulin resistance, and this could lead to a pre-diabetic state.
Therefore, obtaining adequate rest on a regular basis helps the body function as optimally as possible. Rest is most beneficial when incorporated into everyday life.
