Felicity Mensah-Bonsu Health Psychology February 28th, 2016 Since the semester started sleep has been something that has alluded me several times. I can’t remember the last time I had a full 7 or 8 hour sleep. My sleep pattern now seems to consist of barely any naps and close to 4 or 5 hours of sleep. For this project i want to look at how i can improve my sleep patterns so that i’m getting more than 4 to 5 hours of sleep a day and if it’ll improve my work ethic as well as my health. Sleep is a concept that many students and adults hold dearly. There is nothing better than a good nap or a full hour or so of sleep, however, how much sleep we are expected to have daily is sometimes unknown and we may not be getting the recommended hours …show more content…
Another set of researchers have come to the conclusion that a big part of college students sleep patterns has to do with their sleep variability. Sleep variability can affect a person’s cognitive performance. One of the ways you can define this is that sleep variability is the “ irregular sleep durations across several days” (Whiting & Murdock, 2016). Sleep variability can also be defined “in terms of bedtime and wake time shifts across school and non-school nights” (Whiting & Murdock, 2016). No matter how you look at it sleep variability is focusing on a person’s sleep patterns. In terms of college students like myself this would be the inadequate amount of sleep that I am receiving that can affect my “psychological functioning, mood, as well as cognitive and academic performance that has to do with attentional functioning” (Whiting & Murdock, 2016). As I was looking into interventions and monitoring plans for my study that i would be conducting i came across a few that I thought would be interesting to try out. One intervention focused around sleep disturbances in adolescents. The article covers the idea that sleep deprivation can “worsen emotion regulation, increase irritability, anxiousness, hostility, and even fatigue” (Paavonen, Huurre, Tilli, Kiviruusu, & Partonen, 2015). Other problems also include cognitive problems, low attendance, poor school performance, and even symptoms that can mimic
Sleep is a huge part of our lives. On average, we need anywhere from 7-10 of sleep, depending on age. However, few people, especially students, actually get the amount of sleep they should be receiving every night. You might be wondering, its only a couple of hours, why is this a big deal? Actually, sleep deprivation can have a huge impact on your day. According to the article “The Cure for Brain Fog” by Toni Gerber Hope, “lack of sleep has such a profound effect on our brains, making us forgetful, unable to concentrate, grumpy, accident-prone or clumsy”. Anyone who has lost sleep has felt these symptoms and they occur even slightly if one gets less sleep than necessary. There are many diagnoses for sleep deprivation but I believe that the rising issue is technology.
This site was helpful to my essay because it provided useful information about the dangers of sleep deprivation. It also provided a good comparison about how deprived of sleep teenagers are, which I used as my hook. The article seemed credible considering almost all if the information was directly from a published book, cited below. "Sleep in Adolescents.
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.
This article explains the importance of getting the perfect amount of sleep at night. The idea that sleeping for less than five hours or more than nine hours proves to have a negative effect on the human body. Sleep deprivation has a closely related link to memory retention and can cause a person to have trouble with daily task. The author continues to explain that not only is the brain effected by too little or too much sleep, but the rest of the body is also effected. Conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and even depression have links to not getting the perfect amount of sleep. The article concludes with listing tips to get the ideal amount of sleep at night, such as, going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day and limiting the amount of caffeine that is consumed throughout the day.
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.
The consequences of sleep deprivation during the teenage years are particularly serious. Teens spend a great portion of each day in school when it starts early; resulting in a lack of sleep. Ultimately, sleep deprivation affects a student’s academic performance. When students lose sleep, they disrupt their sleep cycles and their bodies respond by decreasing their ability to concentrate and complete complex tasks. A prolonged period of cumulative sleep deprivation will affect their physical and mental well-being and consequently their capacity to learn.
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
Adolescent sleep deprivation is a common problem in today’s society, and it is also a very dangerous one. There have been numerous studies done to determine the causes of sleep deprivation in teenagers, the most prevalent being teens not getting enough sleep due to things like jobs and early school start times. There are many perceived dangers of this, such as sleepiness while driving and a risk for hypertension. There are a few ways to prevent these problems, ranging from parents stepping in to ensure teens get the proper amount of sleep to changing school start times to a later hour. Adolescent sleep deprivation is something that everyone, parents and teens alike, should
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.
The amount of sleep a person gets each night affects the mental and emotional sides of the human body as well. Lack of sleep will increase the risk of depression and other serious mental problems. Most of these problems could be solved with just a few extra hours of sleep. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that a good amount of sleep for an active student is between 9-10 hours. (Walker 1) Mary Carskadon, PhD, listed just a few out of the many benefits to gaining more sleep, them being reduced likelihood of absenteeism and tardiness, receiving better grades, and having less of a risk of metabolic and nutritional deficits like obesity. Carskadon is the director of the Chronobiology and Sleep Research Laboratory at the Bradley Hospital in Rhode Island, and she is also a Professor for the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University School of Medicine. (National Sleep Foundation 2) A couple times out of the year, I will be tardy to my first hour class for accidentally sleeping through my alarm because my body naturally doesn’t wake up for two or more hours. It is a common problem for other students at my school as well. The University of Minnesota’s Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement collected data that states that “more than 9,000 students at eight high schools in Minnesota, Colorado, and Wyoming and found that shifting the school day later in the morning resulted in a boost in attendance, test scores, and grades in math, English, science, and social studies.” (Richmond
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.
1. Many never pay attention and really don’t see how important it is to get enough sleep and the proper hours. Although exercise and nutrition are essential for having health and happiness, sleep is also very important. Not getting the correct amount of sleep directly affects mental sharpness, productivity, emotional balance, creativity, physical vitality, and managing weight.
Given the thought of Middle Tennessee State University’s final exams are in five weeks makes most if not all students anxious. Procrastination begins, stress rises, and sleep decreases with most students. According to Brown University, “In a 2001 study, only 11% of college students have good quality sleep, and 73% have occasional sleep problems.” This means almost three out of four quarters of college students have sleeping problems such as insomnia. However, sleep is very important to the human body mentally and physically. When sleeping, the human body feel refreshed because the brain is working less and relaxes the muscles. Nevertheless, there will still be sleep deprivation, but it can lead to fatigue, irritability, and memory problems (Bernstein 147). As a college student sleep more, the grade point average, memory, and immunity will increased. The solutions to sleeping more are time management and a nightly routine.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleeping makes up one third of a person’s lifetime. Despite that fact, people do not get nearly enough sleep to be productive.
Exigence: Sleep is a humored concept among university students as the pressures of academic assignments, examinations and social life often robs them of precious hours of sleep. As a result of unequal