This essay will show different sleep interventions that have been used among one of the most sleep deprived generations, college students. An intervention is a way to improve health and quality of life through prevention and treatment of disease and other physical and mental health conditions. 7 out of every 10 college students say that they get fewer than the suggested amount of sleep each night. While many students aren’t sleeping enough either, 68% of those student’s state that they have trouble falling asleep at night because of stress. Sleep plays a very important role in your physical and mental health, as well as your day to day life. Lack of sleep has many physical effects, such as kidney disease, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure. Mental effects such as depression, bipolar and anxiety disorders and ADHD quite frequently occur. College students live very busy and stressful lives. Such as handling one or two jobs, going through school itself, working out, living in noisy environments and maintaining a social life. With better time management, these students would be able to avoid potential life threatening diseases. There are many different interventions that have been used to benefit college students and their sleep, this essay will cover two interventions.
Intervention Strategy 1: Sleep Hygiene and Sleep Quality
Sleep hygiene refers to sleep practices, habits and environmental influences that are necessary for receiving quality night’s sleep.
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
Sleep Deprivation is the issue that prevalent among university’s first year students. According to Hershner & Chervin (2014) , half of the university respondents indicated daytimes sleepiness and 70% attain insufficient sleep .
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.
Many young people forget the importance of sleep in their lives when they begin their college career and should be reminded of how necessary it is. It has been estimated that "40% of
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.
Sleep problems have become an epidemic throughout the United States affecting nearly two-thirds of American adults, including the college population (Becker, 2008). A recent poll by the National Sleep Foundation determined that over half of this population describes their sleep habits as poor (Becker, 2008). Poor sleep quality for the college population has been linked to higher levels of stress, depression, anxiety disorders, and poor academic achievement (Becker, 2008). Having a prolonged feeling of stress and exhaustion can have detrimental effects on a college student’s confidence and abilities. When a college student becomes more interested in where they can fit in time to sleep throughout their day as opposed to upcoming assignments, school performance can be negatively affected. Without an adequate night's sleep, college students are likely to have impaired cognitive functioning and as a result fall behind in school work (Mayo Clinic, 2014).
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.
Background and Audience Relevance: College students are one of the biggest populations of people to be sleep deprived. We fill ourselves with coffee, and other forms of caffeine yet, there have been serious, fatal incidents about sleep deprivation. As we continue our journey through college, we should invest ourselves in having rights amount of sleep, and to not resort to all-nighters.
85 sleep disorders affect more than 70 million people across America (Borreli, 2014). There are many contributing factors to why people don’t get enough sleep, and also many long term effects it can have on them. Generally, lack of sleep can be caused by stress, mental or medical problems, or even just choosing to stay up late. The effects it can have on a person’s body can be sometimes deadly, while other times they are treatable or not as serious. Treating insomnia, sleep apnea, or any other type of loss of sleep can consist of a regular sleep schedule and limiting caffeine, alcohol, or energy drinks. The amount of sleep a person gets depends on their age, and also any mental or medical problems they may have. People 13 and under generally
One of the most underrated health activities that we can do to improve health is sleep. Getting the right amount can improve our daily lives in various ways like clearer thinking, stronger immunity, and better memory to name a few.
As a college student, I know first-hand the importance of a good night's sleep. However, due to homework, midterms, and extracurriculars, a nap has become a rare luxury. This is the case for university students across the globe, and sleep disorders have become real a health concern. By conducting a cross sectional study, psychologists at the Saint-Joseph University in Lebanon investigated sleep disorders and examined the relationship between sleep disorders and anxiety.
America as a whole is sleep deprived. The Institute of Medicine estimated that 50 to 70 million Americans suffer from chronic wakefulness or sleep disorders, which the organization associates with numerous health consequences (Colton and Altevogt, 2006). Research has shown that the emerging adult population’s sleep is suboptimal (Hicks and Pellegrini, 1991), and is related to poor health and wellbeing outcomes (Pilcher, Ginter, and Sadowsky, 1997). There have been a few universities have tried intervention programs to improve sleep, and those that have emphasize the need for education on good sleep hygiene. Sleep hygiene is, “modifiable and the behaviors and conditions associated with it as a determinant to sleep can be changed to improve sleep quality and the resulting health-related quality of life” (Jennings, 2013, p. 31). It could be argued that having an intervention program focusing on sleep hygiene education that focuses on sleep hygiene that could result in a drastic change in academic success, involvement in one’s institution, and overall health and wellness. The Dream Team could be that intervention program.
Students are the adults of tomorrow, yet policy-makers keep denying them the amount of sleep necessary for them to have a good overall health. As a recent graduate from high school, I can personally testify that I did not get anywhere near the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep. Between numerous afterschool activities I participated in, such as sports teams and clubs, doing homework, practicing musical instruments and still having to go to zero-period classes; class that starts at 7:30, I would be lucky if I got 6 hours of sleep. Poor time-management skills contributed to my lack of sleep, but having classes that starts at 7:30 to begin with is beyond me. For teenagers to wake up so early is literally defying the way their biological clocks are designed and can cause several health conflicts both physically and mentally that can all result in the consumption of alcohol, cigarettes and drugs. In this essay, I will be talking about the history of sleep science, the several harmful effects due to lack of sleep, then the benefits of getting sufficient sleep and finally, propose a short-term and long-term solution to help high school students receive the necessary 8-10 hours of sleep.
In their essay, “Sleep Deprivation in Adolescents and Young Adults,” the National Adolescent Health Information Center (NAHIC) provides causes and solutions for the lack of sleep in adolescents and young adults. Drawing facts and studies from all over the world pertaining to sleep deprivation in teenagers, the NAHIC describes why the majority of teenagers suffers from lack of sleep and gives different solutions to the problem that is so prevalent in America’s educational society. Some solutions to this ever-present problem, include later start times for schools and informational packets to give to teenagers about sleep hygiene. The NAHIC argues that one of the biggest problems of sleep deprivation in teenagers is the lack of education that teenagers receive about sleep hygiene. In their opinion and based off of the studies that the NAHIC provided, once teenagers and young adults start to get the information about sleep that they need, the majority of them will start to change the way they approach the topic of sleep, and they end up getting the full recommended night of sleep. In a study, In Shape - a healthy lifestyle advocate program - gave over 300 college students an intervention about sleep, stress, management, healthy eating, and more positive changes that a young adult can make in their life. Three months later, the college students show an increase in the duration of their sleep along with other health resorts (Werch, Moore, and Bian). In sum, the NAHIC argues that
Sleep is as essential to the human body as food and water are, but sometimes sleep quality and quantity is inadequate, which is known as sleep deprivation. Sleep deprived people are sleepy and fatigued, making them prone to causing accidents, impairing their judgement, and they are more likely to make mistakes and bad decisions. Not sleeping for 24 hours reduces hand-to-eye coordination, which can be compared to having a blood alcohol content of 0.1 and contributes to road accidents and work injuries. A child’s school performance is negatively affected by the lack of sleep and may cause emotional problems such as depression. Sleep deprived adults suffer from lack concentration, irritability, sleep inertia and a grogginess that lasts all day long as they are constantly yawning and dozing off. 1 All these problems come from not obtaining an adequate amount of sleep hours. There are methods and medications that can help prevent sleep deprivation as well as methods and techniques that utilize sleep deprivation as a tool.