If asked how is a person’s lifetime spent, numerous people would think of the times devoted to family. They may reflect of the years of gaining an education, or attempting to find a soulmate to spend the rest of their life with. However, we rarely consider the time we spend preparing our body to continue living our lives. Oddly enough, the time we allow our body to recuperate, through sleeping, is where we spend more than a third of our lifetime; this is equivalent to approximately twenty five years cycling through the stages of sleep, yet at some point in time we all have been deprived of some essential hours of shut eye (Altevogt and Harvey). Therefore, people, in today’s society, often complain of being constantly tired, yet many do not understand the stages of sleep and common problems that accompany it.
Countless studies from around the world have shown that poor sleep cycles and lack of sleep leads to short and long term health issues (Partinen & Gislason, 1995). The American Academy of Pediatrics states that unsatisfactory sleep has a vastly negative effect on adolescents, on both their health and academics. They have even been pushing schools around the United States to delay the times that elementary schools, middle Schools, and High Schools start their classes (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2014). This is an issue that has been, is, and will be studied for years to come, due to its strong consequences. Furthermore, McClain, Lewin, Laposky, Kahle, & Berrigan (2014) have found that individuals who claim to be tired throughout the day report to be less physically active, which brings up another important health issue. All in all, insufficient sleep is an important issue that needs to be studied more in depth, as it is affecting people all around the globe.
I lie awake yet remained paralyzed. Sitting alone sandwiched between two cotton sheets I stare into the midnight abyss of my ceiling. From the corner of my room stands a single illuminated tv silently playing episodes of Grey's Anatomy. Breaking this moment of tension, I reach for my phone to see what time it is . Pressing the power button revealed my worst fear: it was 2 o’clock in the morning. As it is apparent from this example, sleep is not my strong suit. However, this situation is not limited to just me. In fact, millions from across the nation go through the exact same process of tossing and turning to no avail every night. In consequence of this, the effects of such habits can be seen through society and our lives. It does not have
It is widely known that peer pressure, drug and alcohol abuse, and reckless driving are dangers that some teenagers may face; however, there is one major, yet less publicized problem that an increasing number of teenagers are dealing with on a daily basis. Both teenagers and adults suffer from sleep deprivation, but “the problem is most acute among teens” (Richter). Sleep deprivation is being referred to as an epidemic among experts, and it can have drastic effects on a teenager’s physical, mental, and social well-being. “The most recent national poll shows that more than 87 percent of U.S. high school students get far less than the recommended eight to 10 hours of sleep each night” (Richter). Teenagers have “irregular sleep patterns” and they stay up late, affecting their “biological clocks” which can “hurt the quality of their sleep” (National Sleep Foundation). Schools should start later in the morning because the students need more sleep to perform better academically, teens with more sleep are less likely to become depressed or ill, and longer sleep prevents more wrecks among teenage drivers.
Although it once regarded as being useful, the modern day society has to endure its negative results. Health, in total, is considered the most important thing to people; however, human health is hindered by the time fluctuation. The spontaneous shift in time does not settle well with the body’s ritual processes and its “internal clock...does not adjust” (Source E). A good night's rest is possibly one of the best natural medications and allows the body to fully rejuvenate, and the time change infringes upon this. Sleep is so important in consideration to a person’s attitude towards their day and their performance because it sets their mood. Therefore, the time change’s effect on the human body does not comply with what is expected on a daily basis and further notions expelling the time change from the calendar. In addition, the time change takes a toll on energy consumption. Although it does reduce the electricity needed for light, it increases total energy usage by two to four
Most of us in this class will say that we not get enough sleep because of all assignments, lab reports and so on like just now. So, we called this situation as sleep deprivation which means a condition where people not get enough sleep. We are in the same shoes, so no worries. A research from Brown University stated that, from a survey they conducted to a group of college student, 11% student have a good sleep but the rest which is 73% from the same study were found to have a sleep problem. Despite all of these academic stuff that we need to finish up, it is actually important for all of us to care more about sleep.
Naps can leave people with “sleep inertia,” especially when they last more than 20 minutes. Sleep inertia is defined as the feeling of grogginess and disorientation due to awakening from a deep sleep. This can cause inconvenience to those who must perform a task immediately after waking up from a napping period.
Adequate sleep and rest promotes excellent physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Unfortunately, working on night shifts had a negative impact on my sleep and affected my personal and social life. My goal is to promote good quality of sleep and improve my sleep habits. My plan is to establish a regular bedtime; on my days off I will take a warm shower or hot bath and go to bed around midnight instead of resting on a coach and watching television until I fall asleep in the middle of the night. Before going to bed, I will limit caffeine intake, and decrease stimulation such as noise, light, and temperature. I am also willing to try melatonin supplements, which can promote better sleep. Eating last big meal at least three hours before
Many see taking naps as a sign of laziness or unhealthiness but in fact, it could just be a way of rejuvenating and refreshing ourselves for the rest of the day. Holland further exemplifies her claim with the use of imagery and to show to positivity in napping. “There we lie, visible and vulnerable on our daylit bed, ready to cut the strings and sink into the dark, swirling, almost sexual currents of the impending doze.” (Holland 290) Here we see the author detailing what it is like to fall asleep in the middle of the day. It is cutting away from the stresses of the day for a moment in favor of something more pleasurable, almost to a sexual degree, upon a comfortable “daylit bed”. Holland also uses historical figures like Winston Churchill and John Milton to justify the act of napping and staying in bed. “Milton wrote Paradise Lost in bed. Winston Churchill, a prodigious producer, wrote all those large important histories in bed, brandy bottle at the ready.” (Holland 292) This shows that great things, like culturally significant books and other kinds of literature, can come from the comfort of one's
Concluding Purpose: Many students and even adults need to find better strategies to sleep in order to get through their daily lives.
Healthy levels of sleep and sleep schedules correlate to strong mental health and higher test scores, a fact especially relevant for the millions of sleep deprived teens. Sentiments of success at the cost of mental and physical wellbeing are ingrained in society. Furthermore, wasting time is looked down upon and seen as unproductive, although it can have positive effects on efficiency and emotions.
Sleepless in American is a National Geographic documentary on the lack of sleep Americans are receiving each night. The film starts with the statistic that “40% of American adults are sleep deprived” and followed with different effects of sleep deprivation such as: weight gain, delayed reaction time, depression, anxiety, speeds the growth of cancer, and has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Although, there is no scientific evidence to support the need for sleep, it is an important process that allows our bodies to function properly.
All other basic human necessities in our modern world can be found in many places and distributed very quickly getting us back to being productive. Sleep is the only thing left robbing “time from us by capitalism” (10).
Before, during, and after the logging of my sleep journal, I learned an abundance of information about myself in accordance to the dreams I had been having. The last ten days I logged what I was eating, when I went to bed, how many times I woke up during the night, and when I woke up for the day. As soon as I woke up for the day, I wrote as much as I could remember about the dream/s I had. (Sometimes I had more than one dream in one night.) I will first say that my sleeping patterns are not at all constant. In fact, they seemed to bounce all over the place. I can confirm that everything that I dreamt about correlated with my thoughts during the day. So, to me, it seems obvious that my dreams are being based off of the cognitive approach to dreaming.
Hello everybody, I’m going to speak about the most time-consuming activity in our lives: sleeping. As a matter of fact, we usually don’t pay much attention to the quality of our sleep, in spite of influencing a big deal our performance during the day, our health and well-being, in other words, our quality of life. That’s the reason why I would like to introduce some interesting material to understand better this important though disregarded necessity. First of all, I’d like to explain briefly how sleep works, then I’ll tell you the effects of not sleeping at all and finally, I’ll give you some advice that may help to improve the quality of our sleep.