How Sleep Deprivation Affects Your Wellbeing

“Sleep is my lover now, my forgetting, my opiate, my oblivion.” — Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler’s Wife.

This quote is true for many high school students today; however, a good night’s sleep is starting to be taken for granted. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), America’s health protection agency, around seven out of every ten high school students in America suffer from sleep deprivation, or lack of sleep (“Sleep”). Sleep is very important, and sleep deprivation should not be taken lightly. Lack of sleep causes many health problems both physically and mentally. Although the CDC states that eight to ten hours of sleep is recommended for teenagers, it seems almost impossible for high school students to achieve that much sleep on school days (“Sleep”). Nonetheless, there are answers to improving one’s sleep schedule.

Sleep is very important because it keeps one physically and mentally healthy. In fact, sleep also improves one’s cognition and learning ability. However, sleep deprivation is very common among high school students. Common signs of sleep deprivation include brain fog, daytime fatigue, insomnia, constant tiredness, and concentration difficulties (“The 5”). There are also other effects such as issues with memory, weight gain, and a higher chance of diabetes. In addition, sleep deprivation can also impair one’s central nervous system. While sleeping, the body’s nervous systems form in the brain, retaining information and storing it in the brain; hence, sleep is crucial to one’s daily life. Nevertheless, many times the importance and impacts of adequate sleep are often ignored (“The Effects”). According to the U.S. National Institute of Health, a study shows that students who slept for six hours were relatively able to show improvement in learning. However, those who slept seven to eight hours were able to learn quicker than those who only slept for 6 hours. This is because sleep deprivation slows down the mind’s thought process, which makes it more difficult to learn and attain new information quicker (“Your”). Therefore, sleep is very important because it keeps one’s mental cognition healthy and running.

Lack of sleep can be because of many factors. In fact, there are also biological factors that impact sleep deprivation. According to Nemours Kids Health, an organization that focuses on the health of adolescents, teenagers cannot fall asleep until later because once puberty hits, their melatonin hormones, or sleep hormones, do not kick in until later at night; hence, high school students have more difficulties falling asleep earlier (“Sleep and”). Additionally, there are hereditary factors such as insomnia, restless leg syndrome, and many others. Environmental factors such as stress from school, extracurriculars, social, and many others also influence one’s sleep. It is important to figure out what is causing the lack of sleep, because without understanding, fixing it can be very difficult. However, this is not a lost cause. There are ways to help teenagers get a good amount of sleep.

The many causes of sleep deprivation are complemented by many ways to repair it. Many times, sleep deprivation is an effect of stress, one’s diet, and how late one stays up at night. Yoga is one popular method to cope with stress. A study done by L.A. Uebelacker et al, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University, showed the benefits of yoga to teenagers who are depressed and stressed and how yoga relieves it. The study had 22 teenagers with a mix of genders, ages, and ethnicities. After many tests and experiments, the results showed that hatha yoga, a specific branch of yoga, had positive effects on teenagers who were depressed and or stressed (L.A.). Therefore, if stress is the cause of sleep deprivation, then yoga is a good solution to that. Other ways to reduce sleep deprivation are to attempt to sleep earlier and avoid foods that keep one awake. Foods to avoid before bed are spicy foods, acidic foods, carbonated drinks, and heavy meals in general. Herbal teas such as chamomile, mint, etc., are all relaxation teas. Furthermore, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and other nuts have melatonin components that will make it easier to sleep (“The 5”). One’s diet and food choices play a role in one’s quality of sleep as well.

Without sleep, many health issues develop, both physically and mentally, speaking to the importance of sleep. Sleep deprivation can be caused by many different issues; however, there are many ways to keep one’s sleep schedule healthy. With the right mindset, sleep deprivation could become an easy fix.

References

“Sleep and Your Teen” Nemours Kids Health. Jan. 2021. https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/sleep-problems.html#:~:text=The%20body%20releases%20the%20sleep,for%20bed%20before%2011%20p.m. Accessed 30. Aug. 2022.

“Sleep in Middle School and High School Students” Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 10 Sep. 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/features/students-sleep.htm#:~:text=The%20American%20Academy%20of%20Sleep,10%20hours%20per%2024%20hours. Accessed 30. Aug. 2022.

“The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Your Body” Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/sleep-deprivation/effects-on-body#Respiratory-system. Accessed 30 Aug. 2022.

“The 5 Stages of Sleep Deprivation” Healthline. 26 May. 2020. https://www.healthline.com/health/sleep-deprivation/sleep-deprivation-stages. Accessed 30 Aug. 2022.

Uebelacker, L.A, et al. “Teen’s Perspectives on Yoga As a Treatment For Stress and Depression” Science Direct. vol. 59. Jun. 2021. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965229921000649. Accessed 30 Aug. 2022.

“Your Guide to Healthy Sleep” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/sleep/healthy_sleep.pdf. Accessed 30 Aug. 2022.

“9 Best Foods and Drinks To Have Before Bed” Healthline.com. 27 Aug. 2020. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/9-foods-to-help-you-sleep#1.-Almonds. Accessed 30 Aug. 2022.

“101 of The Best Sleep Quotes” Casper. 24 Jun. 2020. https://casper.com/blog/sleep-quotes/. Accessed 30 Aug. 2022.