Mindfull

Sleep is a physical need that many people just cannot seem to get enough of -- and in many cases, especially within the college community, this cannot be any more true or alarming. According to Talkspace’s recent article, “The Surprising New Connection between Sleep and Mental Health,” a study found that “sleep disruption is a driving factor in the occurrence of paranoia, hallucinatory experiences, and other mental health problems in young adults with an average age of 25.” Research shows that loss of sleep, particularly in adolescence, results in poor coordination and impaired cognitive development, especially in areas having to do with risk taking function. In a survey of college students, 16% admitted to driving while drowsy. These consequences are a result of lack of sleep, but what were to happen if we had a full eight hours of sleep every night? What if phones were silenced and put away a few hours earlier than usual? According to the resource center at Affordable Colleges Online(ACO), sleep deprivation results in the body’s cultivation of grehlin, a hunger hormone that promotes appetite within individuals who do not get enough sleep. However, in individuals who do get enough sleep, the antitheitcal hormone (leptin) is released which reduces the urge to eat excessively. Getting enough sleep doesn’t stop at combating obesity; some may be surprised to know that doing such improves memory and has even been proven to improve grades among college students. The University of Georgia found that one in four students surveyed reported that sleep deprivation negatively impacted their grades and sometimes even resulted in the need to completely withdraw from a class. The journal Scientific Reports also found that students who didn’t maintain a regular sleep schedule were more likely to perform poorly in class compared to those who did. Perhaps, now that we are familiar with the negative effects of sleep deprivation, we can turn off our phones and plan on getting a full eight hours of sleep during the night.