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.
Sleep deprivation
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.
Title + Author: Why We Sleep by: Matthew Walker, PhD. Summary: The book “Why We Sleep” takes a neuroscientific view on everything related to sleep, from why we struggle to fall asleep, to the benefits of sleep, dreaming and its purpose, and the stigma associated with sleep and work. The book discusses sleep in relation to the body, like the brain (memory, emotions, and reaction times), the immune system, appetite/metabolism, and overall health. Through various studies all around the world, Matthew Walker discusses the importance of sleep in all aspects of life such as school, work, and well-being, and why the lack of sleep can be dangerous and even deadly for yourself and others. He emphasizes the need for change around the stigma that sleep equals being lazy, especially for teenagers, but also for employers
Imagine: a world where a biological necessity is not seen as a priority, and adolescent’s educations are suffering. This is how schools’ think about sleep.What all human beings need to survive is being put on the back burner by most schools in America- sleep(11a). It has been proven through the process of scientific research that sleep is necessary on the same level as food or activity. Unfortunately, sleep deprivation is a chronic health problem that many youths suffer from today. Teens are naturally predisposed to go to sleep around 11 pm, but are forced to wake up around 6:15, not allowing any time for adequate sleep (“Backgrounder: Later school start Times” 1). Irregular sleep patterns during teenage years can cause long-term
Sleep affects grades in more ways than one or two or even three. It affect how people feel, think, and act (Gruber,2013). This states that people that have less sleep behave differently than people that get the recommended amount of sleep for their age.They may be more likely to have mistakes in a class or job. They might even act different than they usually do. Sleep also has an affect of no motivation or effort in the work they do (Gruber,2013). This is important because this tells that the person that does not get enough sleep does not have much motivation or effort they put in to the work they perform.People with motivation tend to do things better than people that have none.
Sleep is a beneficial necessity both from a scientific and psychological standpoint as sleep improves mental and physical health. Sleep plays an essential role in our growth and development as human beings. During sleep, our brains are growing and preparing for the day ahead so that we may be productive and attentive in every daily task (“Sleep”). Sleep is used by some as a way to escape the harsh reality of life, healing genuine sadness and terminating evocative pain. Without the recommended minimum of eight hours of sleep each night, people can get agitated, distracted easily, acquire health problems, make bad decisions, and feel sad and depressed (Borbely).
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
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.
Success in life is typically measured by the result of what is accomplished during the waking hours. The degree of effectiveness of those hours however, depend on effective rest. “Sleep is integral to the health and well-being of all people” (Wells 233). Sleep is simply defined as the body’s rest cycle – a time to recharge. The widely accepted metric for normal or sufficient sleep is about 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. When this metric is not met, either through total sleep loss or accumulated sleep debt, the effect can be dire, “Sleep deprivation results in poor memorizing, schematic thinking, which yields wrong decisions, and emotional disturbances such as deteriorated interpersonal responses and increased aggressiveness” (Orzeł-Gryglewska 95). Sleep deprivation hinders the abilities of the mind, harms the body, and shortens length of life.
There are two types of sleep: non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep, which is divided into four stages and rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. A sleep episode begins with a short period of four NREM stages and finally goes to REM. However, individuals don’t remain in REM sleep for the whole night sleep; it will loop between stages of NREM and REM throughout the night. The function of alternations between these two types of sleep is not yet understood, but irregular cycling and absent sleep stages are associated with sleep disorders. (1) Sleep patterns change continuously and considerably with age. The general trend is that sleep efficiency decline with age. Newborns sleep about 16 to 18 hours per day, young children (age 2- age 5) from 11 to 13 hours, adolescents from 8 to 10 hours, adults from 7-9 hours and elderly people are more complicated because of individuals’ health status, age, gender, work, and emotion. (What Happens to Your Body When You Don’t Get Enough Sleep). Every report has a different range of sleeping hours because some people have jobs at midnight, and they cannot sleep at night. Many parents don’t get seven or eight hours sleep because they need to feed their children or change the diaper when their children need it. Many people don’t really know how many hours they need to sleep for a night because they are busy with their jobs and always work
To find out how sleep deprivation affects humans, Dement (1960) connected participants of his study to an electroencephalogram in his sleep laboratory. The participant got woken up any time they showed signs of entering REM sleep. I was found that REM sleep deprivation made test participants more aggressive and suffered from poor concentration than the control group. They also tried to enter REM sleep straight after going to sleep. They made 26 attempts to enter REM sleep by the seventh night. It is to conclude that REM sleep is necessary for proper brain functioning as the brain goes into REM rebound, when deprived 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 is one of the unavoidable daily-living activities and it is one of the most important factors contributing to a person’s health. A quality sleep is essential for the physical, cognitive and psychological well-being of a person. Learning, memory processing and maintenance of the brain are among the most important functions of sleep. In addition to maintaining the brain, sleep has important roles in controlling the
This paper explores five different sources on the changes in sleep over the adults' lifespan. There are multiple explanations as to the changes in sleep from infancy to the older adult, and through a series of conducted experiments a further explanation is given. Judd (2010) explores pediatric sleep issues that impact children from infancy to teen years. Following Judd's claims, Wrzus, Wagner, and Riediger (2014) correlate night-to-night sleep variations and the affective well-being among adolescents and adults. Wilckens, Woo, Kirk, Erickson, and Wheeler (2014) study the importance of sleep in young adults through multiple cognitive tasks. Millman (2012) points out that at a later age, sleep becomes fragmented due to drop in slow wave sleep. To sum it up, English (n.d.) summarizes the sleep changes throughout life. Therefore, this research focuses on the different changes within the adults' sleep stages.
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.