Effect on abilities: Certain studies have shown that people with sleep deprivation have lower abilities than people who get enough sleep. What’s more interesting sleep deprivation can affect our body in ways similar to alcoholic intoxication. For example, a person that has been awake for the past 17-18 hours has the same abilities of a person with a blood alcohol level of .05. In addition to affecting motor skills, sleep deprivation creates higher level of stress, anxiety, and depression, which have their own risks to health and abilities.