Sleep Deprivation In College Students

Sleep is a beautiful thing, but people do not get enough of it. It is a time for the body to rejuvenate and process the events of the day. Sleeping is something that we seek out. Getting the recommended amount of sleep allows our body to function properly the next day. Without it, there could be detrimental consequences. The National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke says that without sleep, neurons could be “polluted with byproducts”. In severe cases, people who get very little sleep often experience mood swings, hallucinations and cells do not continue to reproduce.

Universal to every human from birth to death, sleep is a necessary function to survival, productivity, and happiness. While most fall asleep at night with ease, it is estimated that 50-70 million Americans battle sleep or wakefulness disorders. Although sleep disorders do not immediately present with a threat comparable to other common disorders such as depression, bipolar, or schizophrenia, sleep disorders prove very disruptive to one’s quality of life. Insufficient sleep may result in difficulty concentrating, difficulty with memory, trouble with personal care such as hygiene, driving, or managing finances, and poor performance in the workplace. While there is a wide array of sleep related illnesses that may plague any given individual,

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.

This essay focuses on evaluating three functions of sleep. These functions include mental health (Jackowska et al, 2011), cardiovascular disease (Kronholm et al, 2011) and memory (Hu et al, 2006). The key aspects are explained in detail with regards to studies. The findings from the studies will help justify the function and it’s involvement with sleep. Sleep is important for an individual’s well being, survival, brain development, emotional regulation, cognitive function, memory, and in order to protect mental and cardiovascular health. An individual should sleep for 6-8 hours. A recent suggestion by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommended that an individual should sleep for minimum 7 hours. The quality of sleep is significant to maintain healthy brain functions. Evidence, indicating that good sleep quality is essential for mood and health then duration (Chandola et al, 2010). The researches implied will enable the understanding of the functions of sleep and evaluate the evidence of each of the functions, including advantages and limitations. Furthermore ethical issues are discussed, and an overall summary of the essay is briefed.

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)

Sufficient sleep is a biological necessity for the normal functioning of humans, it allows the body to rest and to replenish itself so that it is able to serve its function of living. In addition, mental and physical health depend on the amount of sleep we get. Most adults and students value work and college much more than sleep, this is due to the academic, career, and materialistic demands. Researchers have noted a positive correlation between lack of sleep and decreased physical health, mental health, and academic performance. Sleep consists of two cycles: non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM), which are sleep patterns that alternate throughout the night. Firstly, sleep begins with non-REM sleep lasting about 90 minutes followed by REM sleep lasting 10-30 minutes, then the cycle repeats itself. REM sleep is the most important phase of sleep because the body is internally awake, with waking-like brain activity, yet asleep and externally calm. Thus, an uninterrupted REM phase of sleep is necessary for integrating previously learned material, and giving the individual a feeling of being well rested and refreshed. Many individuals will put sleep off so that more work hours, and school work can be fit into the day in order to get a better outcome such as job promotions or better academic grades, but I believe that sleep deprived people show a low performance in daily tasks due to suffering from mental, and physical health disorders.

On average, an adult should receive at least seven to eight hours of sleep each night to function effectively. Sleep deprivation is caused in many different ways. As reported by Gallup Polls, about 14% of Americans receive 5 hours or less of sleep per night. Many of today’s college students suffer from sleep deprivation. The balancing of classes, extracurricular activities, work, and homework take away from the hours needed to receive sufficient rest. This is called voluntary sleep deprivation, which is when one has the ability to decide whether to rest or continue in what they are doing. These decisions cause one to suffer from many different

Sleep is a basic human need, it affects how we function on a daily basis and is essential for a person’s health and well being. Sleeping allows the body to recharge and affords the brain the opportunity to integrate important facts, memories and emotional impressions recorded from the previous day. There are five stages of sleep that people go through: Stages one, two, three, four, and Rapid Eye Movement (REM). Sleep is important for all human beings but the amount of sleep each person needs is dependent on many different factors, for example age. Infants generally need sixteen hours of sleep a day, teenagers need about nine hours, and for most adults, seven to eight hours a night is ideal. If people do not sleep enough for several nights they

Sufficient sleep is defined as 7 or more hours in a 24-hour period. Poor sleep health is a common problem in the U.S. with 25 percent of adults reporting insufficient sleep for at least 15 out 30 days (2009). Over the last 30 years, the odds of being a short sleeper (less than 6 hours a night) has increased notably in the United States (Knutson et al. 2010). Currently, it is estimated that approximately 70 million Americans have sleep problems and that nearly 60 percent of them have a chronic disorder. Possible chronic disorders include; sleep apnea, narcolepsy, insomnia, parasomnia, jet-lag syndrome, and disturbed circadian rhythms (National Institutes of Health).

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.

College students rarely get enough sleep. There is always something going on, whether it is studying for a test or binge watching Netflix with their roommates. Ultimately, as this essay will discuss, sleep is more important for students than they realize because it benefits health and performance in school.

Everyone knows a movie, where college students are out all night and they are not in their room sleeping. That one movie, where the students come back late and realize they have class at seven in the morning. There are several reasons why students are not getting the recommended hours of sleep; some examples are being out all night, studying the whole night, and being unable to sleep at night. Sleep is essential to live a healthy life; however, college students do not realize the importance of sleep. College students believe they are young and do not need sufficient hours of sleep. Currently, students are reducing their hours of sleep while attending college. Nonetheless, a decline of sleep does have a negative effect on college student’s schoolwork and the ability to focus specifically on their class environment.

Sleep is an important part of life; it is the time when the mind can relax and the body gets busy fighting infections and rejuvenating for the following day. As recommended by doctors and sleep professionals a person needs 7 to 9 hours of sleep a day while children, adolescents and elderly are recommended to get more. Sleep health consist of the quality and duration a person gets each night. Sleep health for many people is not easily obtained; technology, anxiety, stress, work, family, and financial issues can interrupt it. Some suffer from Sleep disorders and some simply do not have time for sleep, nonetheless, these interruptions are causing people to suffer mentally and physically. According to Healthy people 2020, “Poor sleep health is

It is not unheard of for college students to pull all-nighters, cram for exams, and run on coffee. Many would assume something that occurs so often, cannot possibly be bad for your overall health. Sleep deprivation affects many college students, especially when they have increasingly higher standards and expectations. Sleep deprivation is defined as a situation or condition of suffering from a lack of sleep (Sleep Deprivation, n.d.). Between balancing school, work, and social lives, it is easy to see how college students can have difficulty avoiding sleep deprivation. While college students in general often suffer from sleep deprivation, college athletes may be affected more so than the average student.