College students have busy schedules. Time needs to be allotted for class, homework, extracurricular events, eating, and most of all, sleeping. Sleep helps your body recoup its energy. Often times when your sick, people suggest sleep. When you have a concussion or some type of injury that prohibits you from activities, sleep helps the healing process. Unfortunately, the lack of sleep is taking a toll long term and short term that people are not recognizing.
In modern day America, society is trying to push more towards a health-conscious lifestyle. Diets are pushing for vegetables and fruits, exercise, water, protein drinks and supplements. Recent studies are showing that sleep should be prioritized more and integrated into daily schedules.
A few effects of the lack of sleep is mood changes, weakened immunity, weight gain, risk of heart disease, poor balance and so on. According to Medical News Today, the lack of sleep can cause negative thoughts throughout your day. "... Understand how sleep and circadian rhythm disruptions interact with the allocation of attention," said Professor Meredith E. Coles from Medical News Today. Also, it causes focus problems relating to negative thoughts that affect daily life. All because of sleep disturbances of some kind.
Due to the business of college students, a decent night sleep is crucial. Stanford University mentioned that people may have different requirements, but on average, students need about eight hours of sleep. So, when less sleep is obtained, sleep debt is created. The only way to reverse it, is to sleep more and more over time to regain what your body needs to function properly. A Stanford University professor explained it as "sleep debt determines the strength of the tendency or ability to fall asleep. If your sleep debt is zero, sleep is impossible. If your sleep debt is very low, only a small amount of stimulation is required to keep you awake. If your sleep debt is very large, no amount of stimulation can keep you awake."
The lack of sleep college students receive — or people, in general — does have a long-term effect on personality, ability to function, and begins to ware you down. Often times, society uses coffee and energy drinks to gain the needed boost that the sleep they did not get would have given them. When that becomes a routine exchange for sleep, not only does the lack of sleep settle in, but too much caffeine is not healthy either.
Overall, college students and society, regardless of the business need to recognize the negative effects that sleep can have short term and long term.
But people won't realize it until it is too late.
