Adolescent Sleep Deprivation: Causes, Effects, and Prevention

First there are many serious risks of being sleep deprived. Since so many teenagers are dealing with stress, anxiety, and lack of sleep, if they do this for too long it can have a major affect on their health. The third leading cause of death between the ages of fifteen to twenty-four is suicide. Dealing with sleep deprivation is a major risk factor for having suicidal thoughts, whether or not the teen is depressed. Sleep is food for the brain, without it, it can take a major toll on people. Studies have shown that those who go to bed late do worse in school, and experience a harder time controlling their emotions. Lack of sleep can also affect teens in the long run; causing them to have a higher risk of obesity and diabetes. Sleep deprivation is very harmful to teens, their body needs sleep to function properly, without it, it can damage certain things. Dr. Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist and sleep specialist, said “[Sleep deprivation] is extremely detrimental at all stages of life, In the teen years, when development continues the sleep deprivation effects of brain and body development are significant,” (Breus). This shows just how important sleep is for someone. Having a goods night rest helps their minds, making everything easier, and helps them develop properly.

Adolescents today face a widespread chronic health problem: sleep deprivation. Research shows that getting enough sleep is a biological necessity. Sleep is essential for a person’s health and wellbeing, according to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). Teens are among those least likely to get enough sleep; while they need on average 9 1/4 hours of sleep per night for optimal performance and health and brain development, teens average fewer than 7 hours per school night, and most report feeling tired during the day (Nationwide Childrens, 2003). The root of the problem is early school start times.

Sleep is essential for cognitive, emotional, and physical wellbeing, especially those who are developing into young adults. Proper sleep hygiene, defined as “those practices of daily living that promote good sleep and daytime function” is considered to be a rising issue among adolescent high school students.9 An average adolescent would require between 8 and 9 hours of sleep per night to be considered well rested.5 One survey of American adolescents in high school reported that only approximately 14% of those students actually received an adequate amount of sleep.10 Another study estimates that approximately one-third to one-fourth of adolescent population does not obtain adequate sleep.3 Poor sleep hygiene can lead to many factors that will negatively influence high school student’s wellbeing. Lack of sleep has been proven to be a root cause for multiple negative health outcomes, such as: an increase in depressive symptoms, sedentary behavior, decrease in emotional stability, and reduced physical development.1,5 As depressive behavior increases and motivation decreases, it leads to a significant decline in academic performance and consequently affecting daytime function.4 Practicing proper sleep hygiene and building a foundation of good habits begins with the early stage of adolescents in high school.

A lot of people have at least once gotten little sleep during the week, and then tried to catch up on their sleep throughout the weekend. Studies show that when one tries to catch up on sleep throughout the weekend, it affects their attentiveness on Monday morning, and their ability to attain a regular sleep pattern, which is overall bad for their health (Telljohann 7). Sleep deprivation may also lead to more dangerous behavior, such as using sleeping pills at night. In a recent poll, 6% of teenagers admitted to using sleeping pills before going to bed after a long day. 5.7% of students said that if they are having trouble falling asleep, they will have a cigarette to calm themselves before bed. Also, 2.9% of adolescents will drink alcohol before going to bed to ensure that they sleep well (Telljohann 1). What if parents found out their teen was engaging in this dangerous behavior? Sleep is a necessity to everyone, and some teens are finding that they can’t always get the amount they need.

As a result of a changing body and mind, adolescent sleep cycles have different needs than those of adults or younger children. As a matter of fact, Biologically, sleep patterns shift toward later times for both sleeping and waking during adolescence -- meaning it is natural to not be able to fall asleep before 11:00 pm (“Teens”). In addition to biological change in sleep patterns, teenagers also tend to have eccentric sleep cycles. Obtaining less than healthy hours of sleep during the school week and then catching up on their sleep on the weekends. Most teenagers during the school week, do not get the suggested amount of sleep. In fact, according to a recent poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation, 80% of teenagers do not get the suggested amount of sleep of 9 hours on school nights (“School Start”). With changing bodies and minds, along with an increased amount of schoolwork and extracurricular activities, teenagers need more sleep than children of a younger age. Experts believe that moving back the start time of school for high school students will improve grades, test scores, and the overall health and personality of many students.

Sleep deprivation throughout the teen years is a very serious problem, spending most of the day at school, teens who are sleep deprived have an impaired ability to stay alert, pay attention, solve problems, handle stress and retain information. Young

Bryant, N. B., & Gómez, R. L. (2015). The teen sleep loss epidemic: What can be done? Transla-tional Issues in Psychological Science, 1(1), 116-125. doi:10.1037/tps0000020

Because of kids not getting enough sleep it increases obesity rates, depression, motor vehicle accidents (M.V.A.), and a lower quality of life. “Getting enough sleep is important and early start times are preventing many adolescences from

Sleep loss can take a devastating toll on the mind and body at any stage of life from early childhood to older adulthood. But, for teenagers, who are at a critical stage of development, skipping out on sleep can be particularly dangerous. One standout finding is that a lack of sleep affects the body the same way that drinking alcohol does. And like alcohol an insufficient amount of sleep can lead to impairments of mood, affect regulation, attention, memory, behavior control, executive function, and quality of life. In a study of nearly 28,000 suburban high school students, published earlier this year in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, found that each hour of lost sleep is associated with a 38 percent risk of feeling sad or hopeless and a 58 percent increase in suicide attempts. As well teens who sleep an average of six hours per night are also three times more likely to suffer from depression, a 2010 study found. Thus, the correlation between sleep deprivation and depression go hand in hand among teenagers. Also, losing sleep can also have a long-term negative effect on a teens physical health with poor sleep quality being linked to diabetes and obesity risk for teens. Sleep correlates with the well-being of teens, but it also closely relates with academic

Only about fifteen percent of teens obtain the preferred eight hours of sleep they need to function properly (Neuroscience for Kids, 2010). Sixty percent of teens say that they are “tired” and fifteen percent fall asleep in class (School and Sleep Times, 2011). This shows that high schoolers are not getting

Serious health issues like depression could be caused if a teen doesn’t get enough sleep, but with homework to do, essays to write, and exams to study for, it is hard to get a good night’s rest. A later starting time for school could significantly help. O’Neill says, “Studies show that tired teens have an increased risk of depression, anxiety, obesity, and illness,” (O’Neill 20). From this quote, it is evident that many health conditions could arise from not getting enough sleep. However, not only mental problems can develop.

Most teenagers think that it is cool staying up late with friends, but the lack of sleep is slowly killing you with the toxins of society. A recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention related lack of sleep to health risks such as being overweight,

Russell Foster has an open discussion of reasons why sleep is important to humans. He mentions that “huge sectors of society are sleep-deprived.” On average, teens need nine hours of sleep for a healthy brain performance. But, nowadays teens are only getting about

Gail Gross, talks about the why teens need their sleep, “[w]hen teens do not get enough sleep, the problems can be very serious and affect almost every aspect of their lives. They lose the ability to focus and stay on task, they experience fatigue, mental lapses, and symptoms of ADHD, including hyperactivity and attention deficit. When your teen is stressed through the loss of sleep, theamygdala enlarges, making him or her more emotional in decision-making, while the hippocampus narrows where learning and memory live. As a result, not sleeping long enough can affect not only decision-making ability, but also creativity.” Teen lose so much focus when they don’t have their sleep. We want to blame it on the teen themself, but it is also the school system’s fault. Teenages have to get up so early just to make it to school on time. During the first couple of period, they are exhausted. Teen can’t concentrate. They don’t remember things. Just starting school later would fix this problem right

It is estimated that only 15 percent actually get these amounts (Kids Suffer from Sleep Deprivation). This is particularly important for students who wish to do well in school. Dr. Carl Hunt, the director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, is spearheading a sleep campaign. Her philosophy is, “Sleep well, do well.” This is something that shouldn’t be taken to lightly. Sleep problems effect about 70 million Americans of all ages. Teens often have problems with daytime sleepiness. The old idea of early to bed, early to rise isn’t necessarily the best answer. Society is simply asking to much of teens (Sleep experts to teens). A combination of school, work, study and leisure, leaves very little time left for sleep. Being deprived of sleep definitely has an effect on how well students do in school and may be putting their health at risk. College students who stay up all night to study for a test or write a big paper that’s due often have no choice because of the pressures to do well and succeed, but at what price do they pay?