Sleep Deprivation In College Students

Are you tired and having trouble paying attention in class? Focusing on tasks at hand? Or just completely being overall unproductive? The average college student is deprived at least two full hours asleep each night according to “College Tidbits” a website designed to promote healthy lifestyles and productivity in daily college life. These results were pooled from multiple surveys done over hundreds of campuses throughout the United States. Today, I hope to persuade you to fight the statistics and get those extra two hours of sleep. Do what it takes to get the full seven to nine hours that is suggested by the Mayo Clinic. I will discuss two problems. Why college students are not

Convey the notion that sleep is an essential part of keeping a college student healthy and sometimes getting enough sleep can be a struggle when a student is under so much pressure to do well academically.

This source was produced by The Media Production Group at Dartmouth and Dr. Carl P. Thum, Director of the Dartmouth Academic Skills Center. Carl Thum himself works with students at Dartmouth University in which he provides coaching for students suffering from ADD and also leads various workshops, mini-courses, and coaching sessions for students as well. In this video, several students and faculty members are interviewed on the relationship between sleep and being a college student. In the various interviews, the students admit to the struggles they have in being able to function when suffering from sleep deprivation and how severely the lives are affected from it. The faculty members themselves admit to the several instances in which they have witnessed students suffer as a result of sleep deprivation in their testimonials. I will be incorporating this video to indicate the varying degrees at which sleep deprivation can affect students and will include quotes from other students in this video in order to create more relatability for the reader when hearing from students besides myself and how they have learned to address sleep.

One of the many arising problems of America’s students is they are becoming sleep deprived. The busy daily schedules of children and teens are not allowing them to get enough sleep. “Less sleep is unhealthy especially with the new research that as teenagers move through teenage years, they need increasing amounts of sleep. Nine hours per night is the necessary amount to avoid behaviors associated with sleep deprivation” (Final Report Summary, 2001). Among other things, sleep deprivation is causing students to sleep during class instead of being awake and aware. When the students are sleeping in class, they are not retaining information being taught to them. Researchers have now proven that

Sleep deprivation is a serious concern among college students, who are "among the most sleep-deprived age group in the United States," (Central Michigan University, 2008). It is important to study the causes of sleep deprivation, or sleep disorders, among college students. According to Park (2009), "dozens of studies have linked an increase in nightly sleep to better cognition and alertness." A study by Central Michigan University (2008) found that sleep deprivation can lead to poor academic performance, impaired driving, depression, and behavioral problems. There are several variables that may affect sleeping patterns among college students. One is genetics or biological issues. It is highly

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.

Specific Purpose: Sleep and college students usually don’t tend to get along very well. Sleep and college life often bump heads due to stress, coursework and social activities. This speech will give the students useful information about dangers of not getting enough sleep and also hints on how to get a better nights sleep.

College is exciting transition for freshman as they can meet new people and be open to opportunities in their life; however, college is very demanding when it comes to school work. Freshmen tend to underestimate their school work and end up stacking their homework, leading them to become stressed and develop unhealthy habits. Sleep deprivation is a common habit among freshmen as they stay up all night to study for an exam or write a paper. If students feel like they have too much work, they burn themselves out and end up losing the motivation to finish their homework, making their grade fall. With all this work, freshmen spend most of their time at home or in the library doing their homework and feel too exhausted to socialize. College is supposed to be a thrilling experience for freshmen, but they tend to form bad habits that makes college more difficult and do not know how to get rid of them. Freshmen need to know developing good sleeping habits, motivating themselves, and finding the time to socialize is important in maintaining their health and social life throughout college. Freshman should set a sleep schedule for themselves, create a reward system for themselves when completing their work, and join a club or organization in order to manage their school life and enjoy the exciting experience of college. (225)

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.

Unfortunately, the behavior of high-school and college students in terms of sleep can eventually mutate into an unhealthy obsession with their grades.

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

Research indicates that America’s sleep problems have increased and might be the number one health problem. The average amount of sleep that people get per night can range anywhere from three to twelve hours. According to Dr. David Dinges at the University of Pennsylvania, it is a fact that people who get fewer than six hours of sleep a night do not live as long as people who get seven hours or more. Most people do not realize the importance of sleep or even realize that it is needed to survive. Many people experience sleep deprivation; however it is commonly seen in college students. Irregular sleeping patterns tend to occur in students, which can later lead to long-term effects.

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.

Reason to Listen: University students often rely on delaying sleep for academic pursuits without knowing that the instant gratification of completed assignments and exam preparations pales in comparison to the effects on the body. Students should listen to increase awareness on the impacts of sleep deprivation and moderate sleep patterns.

You begin studying for your 8 A.M. Monday final on Sunday evening, and decide that you will pull the infamous “all-nighter” to make sure you know all the information needed for the test. You begin your test at 8 o’clock sharp and you have an hour to take it. As you begin the test, you realize that it becomes harder and harder to keep your eyes open. You read the questions repeatedly, because it is impossible to focus. As the time ticks, away you realize you haven’t answered half of the questions as the professor exclaims, “Time’s up!” Sleep deprivation is a reoccurring issue on college campuses. Many students are unaware of the effects of sleep deprivation, because they believe that they are invincible and that they don’t need any sleep to