The keyboard rattles, the coffee is getting cold, and the clock reads “2:00 AM”. Before you know it, there are only 5 hours before school starts. 5 hours is almost certainly not enough sleep for most people in the world. Unfortunately, a lack of sleep, also known as sleep deprivation, is relatable for many students across the United States and the world.
Sleep deprivation occurs when one does not get enough quality sleep. Teens need about 8 to 10 hours of sleep to feel rested and support proper development.
Unsurprisingly, sleep deprivation is a very real problem among teens. Research from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health shows that as few as 22% of older teens in the US (ages 18 to 19) are getting at least 7 hours of sleep every night in the years 2021-2023. When compared to teens in the years 1991-1995, teens today are sleeping considerably less.
In addition, studying gets less effective with sleep deprivation.
While pulling all-nighters to study might sound attractive, it can actually backfire in the long term if done consistently. In a study conducted by the University of Nevada, results suggest that college students who sleep more perform better in academics. In the study, students who slept more than 9 hours had an average reported GPA of 3.24 while those who slept 6 or fewer hours only averaged 2.74.
Furthermore, the brain’s processing speeds of adolescents have been shown to decrease when they consistently sleep only 4 hours for 7 days straight. It can remain slow even after 2 full recovery nights, meaning that chronic poor sleep can take a while to recover from.
Other short term effects of sleep deprivation include slower reflexes, headaches, and issues with metabolism which can increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes.
Additionally, sleep deprivation can weaken the immune system. A study shows that teens are more likely to get common illnesses such as the cold, the flu, and gastrointestinal infections when they have shorter sleep durations (around 6 hours) when compared to longer durations (around 7 hours).
Severe effects of sleep deprivation start showing up after extended periods of time without sleep. These can include microsleeps, hand tremors, and hallucinations. Microsleeps are moments when the brain briefly falls asleep and then suddenly wakes up again. These are especially dangerous when it involves tasks that require high levels of attention such as driving.
If sleep deprivation is so detrimental, why are many teens still sleep deprived? There are a couple of reasons that may explain why.
First of all, the circadian rhythm of teens naturally shifts, meaning that students do not feel sleepy until later in the night. Coupled with the fact that many secondary schools start early in the morning, it becomes even more easy for students to be sleep deprived.
Another likely major culprit is screen time. In a study conducted by the University of Otago, results showed that every 10 minutes of additional screen time within 2 hours of bedtime reduced sleep anywhere from an average of 4 minutes to 35 minutes. While this study mainly focused on younger adolescents, it is plausible that the effects of screen time before bed has a negative impact on sleep quality on older adolescents as well. Blue light emitted from screens suppresses the melatonin hormones (which regulates sleep) in both adults and children which increases the difficulty of falling and staying asleep. With the prevalence of addictive platforms like social media, it is becoming even harder to stop screen time before bed, contributing to sleep deprivation.
As terrible as the problem of sleep deprivation sounds, there are fortunately ways to solve or mitigate this problem. While the exact causes of sleep deprivation vary for each individual, sticking with a consistent sleep schedule (sleeping and waking up at the same time everyday), finding ways to defeat daytime procrastination, and avoiding screen time right before bed are just some of the possible solutions.
In the end, sleep deprivation continues to be a menace among students. While pulling all-nighters sounds effective in a stressful academic environment, it’s important to remember to sleep and take care of your health! After all, the science says it’s simply the best thing to do.
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