The effects of sleep deprivation There are copious reasons why people are not getting enough sleep. Stress, sleeping disorders, mental illnesses or staying up all night studying or working are only a few of them. Therefore, a lack of sleep is very common in our society. Apparently about 35 percent of American adults are not getting the recommended amount of seven to nine hours sleep on a regular basis. However, this sleep deprivation has serious effects on one 's life and health.
When exposed to more sleep deprivation, a person becomes emotional, hungry and clumsier than usual. Sleep deprivation leaves a person physically and mentally impaired. It lowers the inhibitors in the brain, causes hallucinations and psychologically drains the body of its resources. (Gelber, 2010) The average adult needs seven to nine hours of sleep each night. Most adults do not get that amount of sleep.
Running head: THE EFFECTS OF SLEEP DEPRIVATION ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE 3 The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Academic Performance Sleep is a vital necessity for people to live a healthy lifestyle in which they can function well and think properly. It helps with memory consolidation, learning, decision-making, and critical thinking (Gilbert & Weaver, 2010). Therefore, sleep deprivation is necessary for keeping these cognitive functions at an optimal level for performance wherever the person may be, whether it be at work, home, or even school. Unfortunately, not everyone receives
Sleep deprivation is often studied by psychologists and psychiatrists who both deal with the mental behavior of patients. (Spinks). Sleep deprivation can be defined as the cumulative effect of a person not having sufficient sleep (“Sleep Deprivation”). High school students all
Some of the difficulties resulting from sleep deprivation are impaired alertness and attention, difficulty to solve problems, cope with stress, and retain information. More include, depression, substance abuse, increase in sexual activity and aggression. This can also produce mood swings, obesity, and immune disorders. Teenagers seem to have different sleep schedules than adults. They need nine hours of sleep but that rarely occurs due to such early school times.
For every two hours that our brains are learning daily, it needs an hour of sleep to comprehend its meaning. Stickgold states, if you don’t sleep, you die (Ratey & Manning, 2004, p.126 ). This statement had a great impact on my thoughts of sleep and death being the result. Sleep is necessary for bodily function, learning absorption, and cognition for daily living and safety. Eight and a half hours per night every twenty-four hours is recommended otherwise the person is not sleeping enough.
Research has shown that lack of sleep negatively affects one emotionally, physically and academically (Peri, 2014). One’s academic performance at school and physical performance on the sports field can be severely compromised by lack of sleep. Severe sleep problems can also be linked with some mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar and depression [REFERENCE]. Depression in teenagers is becoming more prevalent, and scientists are starting to believe that this is linked to sleeping disorders. I have suffered severely from involuntary lack of sleep for many years.
We can describe sleeping as a loss of awareness about what's happening around us. Our brain never sleeps, it still continues to function, although the brainwave rhythms are altered and gradually slow as we approach the deeper stages of sleep. Lack of sleep occurs when we do not sleep as much as we should. Although the need for sleep varies from person to person, an adult needs 7-9 hours of sleep per night, but some people need significantly less. Children and teens need more sleep than adults.
Sleep is one of the most essential part of human lives, however a lot of people received inadequate amount of sleep every night and more are becoming sleep deprived. It is important to understand that people of all ages, and ethnicities are at risk of becoming sleep deprived. More specifically, individuals who have limited time for sleep, such as students, people who work a lot of hours either at either one or more jobs, as well as caregivers. Also, those who have schedules that conflict with circadian rhythms such as; shift workers, first responders and individuals who travel for work can also be at risk of suffering from sleep deprivation. Other individuals that could be included would be those whose life style choices do not allow them to
However, going without adequate sleep has both short- and long-term consequences. In the short term, a lack of adequate sleep can affect judgment, mood, ability to learn and retain information, and may increase the risk of serious accidents and injury. In the long term, chronic sleep deprivation may lead to a host of health problems including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even early mortality. In the life of adolescents school timings are one of the important hindrances for adequate sleep leading to increased anxiety among them. In this paper the