Luis Montgomery
The Blue & White Flash / Staff Writer
Does this sound familiar? Are you having a hard time getting to sleep or waking up throughout the night? Do you find yourself struggling to stay awake during class or at work? You, like many other college students may be experiencing sleep deprivation.
Those late nights spent cramming for major tests, doing last minute assignments, or just living your best life may be catching up with you and causing wear and tear on your body. Staying up until the early hours to succeed could be doing more harm than good.
Missing out on the recommended 7 – 9 nine hours of sleep a night can have long-term effects on your mental and physical wellbeing.
“Sleep deprivation is one of the many silent killers for students. A killer of our moods, wellbeing, and our lives as a whole. Sleep is how we charge and fuel ourselves to keep moving everyday,” Cardedrah Hathorn, a freshman criminal justice major from Thomastown, Miss.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sleep deprivation is a public health problem and a contributing factor to many chronic health conditions that include diabetes, heart disease, obesity and obstructive sleep apnea.
What is sleep deprivation? According to WebMD, sleep deprivation is a sufficient lack of restorative sleep over a cumulative period causing physical or psychiatric symptoms and can affect routine performances of tasks.
How do you know if you are sleep deprived? A few common signs of sleep deprivation could be irritability, moodiness, and reduced ability to handle stress to name a few.Academic success and a good night’s sleep go hand in hand. Likewise insufficient sleep affects memory, cognitive thinking and the ability to make good judgements.
Senior psychology major Shonterrious Black explained her experience with sleep deprivation. “Throughout my college years, I have experienced many sleepless nights. Whether they be a result of finishing assignments or attending social gatherings. I definitely could feel the difference in my mood and productivity throughout my scheduled norm. An unhealthy habit I have is spending a whole day crashing,” said Black, a Carthage, Miss. native.
According to research by Brown University, at least 27 percent of students report good sleep. On the other hand, 73 percent of students were found to have sleep problems.The survey also found that student schedules and time management influence how college students sleep on a regular basis. Only 72 percent of students were found to sleep 8 – 9 hours on weekends, while 28 percent sleep more than 10 hours on weekends.
Some of you may be wondering what is the difference between sleep deprivation and insomnia. On the surface, they seem to be the same thing, but they differ.
To be sleep deprived means that your sleep is being withheld or taken away due to certain circumstances. For an example, you get off work at 2 a.m. and you have class 8 a.m., because of this you are sleep deprived.
Insomnia, on the other hand, is not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep for a long period of time. You have the opportunity to get a good night’s rest, but no matter how hard you try you just can’t go to sleep or you can’t stay asleep.
WebMD offers these tips to prevent sleep deprivation:
- Avoid caffeine at night, and limit it during the day.
- Create a sleep schedule, and stick to it.
- Don’t sleep in on weekends or days when you have late class; wake up close to the same time every day.
- Don’t study or work on your computer in bed.
- Exercise earlier in the day, never just before bed.
- Sleep with earplugs and use an eye pillow to drown out any bright lights and the noise of loud roommates.
- For iPhone users, take advantage of the bedtime calculator.
Kennedy Jones contributed to this story
