Sleep Deprivation In College

Sleep is important for our health and well-being. Extensive research has been done on the effects of sleep. These studies consistently show that sleep plays a vital role in promoting physical health, longevity, and emotional well-being. This explains why, after a good night's sleep, we feel better, our thoughts are clearer, and our emotions are less fragile. Without adequate sleep our judgment, mood, and ability to learn and retain information are weakened.

Introduction: I’m sure everyone likes sleep. Everyone needs sleep to keep the least bit active through out there day. Sleep is an important factor for your body to restore energy. Sleeping is a time to rest your body from all the hard work you have done. It is relaxing so deeply that you lose consciousness of your surroundings.

For first year students coming straight from high school, college life can either be very exciting or overwhelming depending on how well one prepares for it. Some have the notion that college is fun and is all about partying, while some believe that it is an environment in which they can achieve the ultimate freedom thus escape the stringent rules made by their parents at home. Others look forward to experiencing a different learning environment while being exposed to different cultures and sharing different academic knowledge. Successful assimilation into college life is determined by the student’s capability to transform into the new role of a college student. Numerous students face challenges they have never experienced before which can

According to Lupien, McEwan, Gunnar, and Heim (2009), going off to college involves significant adjustments to their daily routines; sleeping and eating habits, time-management skills, and stress levels will be altered in one way or another. First-year students have to adjust to the new school environment, different social settings, and new schedules, all without the help and guidance from their parents, who have been there for them for eighteen years. Over 30% of college freshman report that they feel overwhelmed (Klainberg, Ewing, & Ryan, 2010), where some students even opt to work as they juggle their class and work schedules. Some students work at a job or study harder than others, but they are all trying to get degrees so maybe one day they will have meaningful and significant lives. It is a constant struggle for everyone who is trying desperately to make him or herself into a success. And every college student wants to be involved in society in a positive manner, allowing contribution of their ideals and values to others.

First and foremost, you did it! You survived all crammed hallways, the cliques, and all the times you thought your parents were controlling you way too much. As this new chapter opens you will soon realize that your parents were always right and you really do need to not procrastinate and should balance your school and social life. College truly is the best four years of your life, but there are a few things you must always keep in the back of your mind.

In today’s society, many people go through many days yawning, fighting to stay awake and indulging in many cups of coffee. If you were to ask them what the cause of their restlessness was, the popular statement would be a lack of sleep. However, most would not dare to think that a lack of sleep could cause multiple issues in everyday life. This problem has been seen to peak during the good ole college days. It is hard to imagine that those days of all-night cramming sessions and those late nights partying causing students to be sleep deprived could lead to a variety of problems like stress, long term insomnia, and a weakened immune system.

The stereotypical American college student goes out partying all the time and stays up all night finishing an assignment or studying for a test. This stereotype may be accurate, but it is detrimental to our higher education culture. Hearing kids around me say “I’m so stressed for college. I’m never going to get any sleep when I go,” is heartbreaking. The pursuit of knowledge is a long and tiring journey, but it would be much more enjoyable if it didn’t come with a side of extreme stress and constantly-lowering mental health.

College students have more freedom, but also more responsibilities. Sally Rubenstone writes that “[w]hile their workloads are often gigantic, student’s free-time periods seem so too, and it is easy to procrastinate.”

Sleep is undoubtedly one of the most essential requirements for the human body to function properly. It plays a very important role in ensuring the wellness of the human body both physically as well as mentally. In fact, the importance of sleep is clear from the fact that it helps you in maintaining a good lifestyle throughout our entire lifetime. Not only does it help maintain our physical and mental health; rather it also helps in maintaining a decent and healthy lifestyle along with ensuring safety from a number of fatal diseases. It is usually said that the mood in which you wake up is largely dependent on the type of sleep you have been in. This in itself is a big proof of the importance of sleep in our lives. While sleeping, our body finally gets its share of rest and it also gets ample time in rejuvenating from all the wear and tear that it went through during the entire day. Not only this, the body is in its own working condition when we are sleeping as this is the time when it supports the healthy functioning of the brain as well as physical attributes of our body.

The determination of what is real and what is not is that of conscious mind. Sometimes it feels like I am just imagining things in my mind but snap back into reality. In a classroom environment, I can get real focused on what the professor is talking about but have to tell myself, that yes I am in that class and yes the professor really said that out loud. One of the things that I have found to be extremely difficult is that of keeping a constant sleep cycle. It will have many different factors of why my sleep pattern is different from most. The circadian rhythm really hit me when I had returned back to Boise after being stationed in Georgia for about four years. Time difference between is only a two-hour difference but it affected me more

Lastly, the long-term effect and the most common consequences are mood and behavior. Usually, changes in mood and behavior are the first signals and symptoms that show individuals are suffering from sleep deprivation. Before experiencing hallucinations and motor and cognitive impairment, the first symptom that was shown in Gardner’s behavior was mood and behavior change. “Sleep and emotion are closely linked, however, the effects of sleep on socio-emotion task performance have only recently been investigated” (Beattie et al., 2014). People who are usually gentle and soft will become aggressive and depressive, people become sensitive to their surroundings, or individuals feel more irritable, hostile, and angry when they experience sleep loss. According to Kushida (2005), “mood changes commonly include

Thesis Statement: When the projects, exams, and extra-curricular activities start to pile up on one another it seems as though there is not enough time in the day.  This is when college students tend to lose precious hours of sleep and the consequences can be costly.

The behavior change I decided to focus on is: getting more sleep every day. For this, the article I chose is: Why Is Sleep Important. Sleeping plays a key role in maintaining a healthy life as it affects our mental activities, as well as physical health. When we sleep, the same as when we are awake, we tend to process information outside our conscious awareness. Whenever we are asleep, we may think our brains turns off but it is always still active because of the biological rhythm that is has. Having enough sleep helps us humans, and living things in general, ameliorate our immune system and gives our neurons time to repair themselves. Another benefit of sleeping enough is the fact that it helps rebuild the memories that may have faded, it reactivates them. Sleeping boosts your creativity. In fact, people who sleep on a task after having worked on it, tend to solve difficult problems more effectively. It also supports growth by releasing a hormone that is necessary for muscle development.

Sheer amounts of pressure and anxiety overwhelm college students. Usually the first stressors students encounter are on move-in day. The first day of college means leaving home, making new friends, and saying good-bye to parents. A survey conducted at a large state university reported that 45% of entering freshmen felt lonely or homesick (Vye, Scholljegerdes, and Welch p. 44). Many students feel several social anxieties as well. For instance, sharing a room with a random student can be very stressful and difficult. Other students feel pressured to fit in on campus in order to make several friends as soon as possible. Social anxiety can even affect course selections. Students with anxiety will often select courses that

College life for the twenty-first century student is not what it used to be. According to an American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment survey, eighty-five percent of college students feel so tremendously overwhelmed they walk through the day blind and just hoping things work out (Fisher). Students lack the ability to focus and manage everything that is piled on them during class.