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Sleep paper

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Barbara McQueen
Barbara McQueen

Teenagers need 7 to 7.5 hours of sleep per night. Not getting enough sleep can hurt their grades and health, and may cause accidents that endanger others. Symptoms of sleep deprivation include feeling tired, irritable, and having trouble concentrating. Effects of lack of sleep include lower academic performance, weight changes, illnesses, accidents, and even premature death. Altering poor sleeping habits through reducing caffeine and practicing good sleep hygiene can help address sleep deprivation.

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HOW MUCH SLEEP DO TEENAGERS REALLY NEED, AND WHAT ARE THE SHORT AND LONG TERM EFFECTS OF NOT GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP? Prepared for Ms. McQueen By Jane Doe Period 1 May 3, 1999
Teachers have observed groggy high school students nodding off in their classrooms for centuries. The introspective teacher asks, Is it me, or are my students not getting the sleep they need? To determine if sleep deprivation is the cause of ones students drifting off, the inquisitive teacher must explore two issues. First, how much sleep do teenagers really need; and second, what are the short and long term effects of not getting enough sleep? To discover answers to these questions, researchers have been conducting experiments for the past fifty years. The most relevant results of these years of research focus on: symptoms of sleep deprivation mental, physical, and emotional problems caused by inadequate amounts of sleep accidents and disasters that can be linked to sleep deficits, and methods for effectively altering poor sleeping habits and insomnia. SYMPTOMS Ninety percent of the public can determine their sleeping needs from the following chart: Newborns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-18 hours/day 4 year olds . . . . . . . . . .. 10-12 hours/day 10 year olds 9-10 hours/day 13-18 year olds 7 遜 hours/day 20-70 year olds 7 hours/day People over 70 6-6 遜 hours/day (Dotto 1990:38)
However, ten percent of the public are short sleepers or long sleepers and can be perfectly healthy with much more or much less sleep. To determine if you are one of these people who have substantially different sleep needs than the rest of the public, ask yourself how you feel when you wake up during the day. If you generally feel rested and ready to tackle whatever comes you way, you are getting an appropriate amount of sleep. On the other hand, according to Dr. Maas who wrote the book Power Sleep, if three or more of the following sentences describe you, there is a good chance you are suffering from sleep deprivation. I need an alarm clock to wake up. Its a struggle for me to get out of bed in the morning. I feel tired, irritable, and stressed out during the week. I have trouble concentrating. I have trouble remembering things. I feel slow at critical thinking, problem solving, and being creative. I often fall asleep watching TV. I find it hard to stay awake in boring meetings or lectures or warm rooms. I often nod off after heavy meals or after a low dose of alcohol. I often feel drowsy while driving. I often sleep extra hours on weekend mornings. I often need a nap to get through the day. I often have dark circles under my eyes. Ive been drinking more coffee than usual. Im catching more colds or keeping colds longer than I usually do. I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. (How to Tell 1998:12) Some people might want to argue over whether the above sentences truly indicate a sleep deprivation problem. For example, many people believe it is totally understandable that a person would fall asleep at a boring meeting. But according to Dr. Maas, the finger of blame is being pointed in the wrong direction. If you have had adequate sleep, you might get fidgety or angry or bored or restless or uncomfortable, but not sleepy (How to Tell 1998:12). Likewise, again according to Dr. Maas,
Bragging that you fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow does not necessarily show that you are in good health . . . . The well-rested person takes 15 to 20 minutes to fall asleep. Think how ridiculous it would sound to brag about being a good eater because you devour your meals the instant they are put in front of you. Such behavior would be indicative of food de- privation, not good nutrition (How to Tell 1998:12). EFFECTS So suppose you or someone you know is not getting enough sleep. Whats the big deal? Are the effects of sleep deprivation terribly significant? Yes, especially when added together. Among the possible effects mentioned in research literature are a loss of motivation (an I-just-dont-care-attitude); additional depression, feelings of inferiority, anxiety, and irritability; difficulty concentrating and forgetfulness; a loss of spontaneity, flexibility, and originality (since a tired mind will stick to known ways of doing things); lower exam scores (especially on essay exams and math exams); delusions and inaccurate perceptions of reality; weight gain (since people tend to munch on food at random intervals to keep themselves awake) or weight loss (since the body needs more energy to get through each day); longer and more frequent illnesses; premature aging; temporary paralysis; and even earlier death (Dotto 1990:155-157). If you have doubts about some of the items on the above list, consider the following bits of evidence. Typical comments by sleep-deprived shift workers include: I used to hunt, fish, and enjoy sport activities. I lost interest in everything . . . I could see such a difference in my friends at work. People would go to the break area, and no one would talk to each other; and if they did, it was something negative about their work (Dotto 1990:237).
Teenagers often want to stay up late for fun or to cram the night before a major exam, but several studies reveal that students with higher GPAs go to bed earlier and wake up earlier on weekdays and weekends than students with lower GPAs (Link). In fact, even staying up for as little as 2 hours past their normal bedtime could seriously affect how well they retain the information learned that day (Dotto 1990:160). Sleep-deprived doctors have exhibited irritability, cynicism, and chronic anger (Dotto 1990:283). In addition, studies of sleep-deprived interns show deficiencies in their mathematical skills, their ability to recognize abnormal heart rhythms, and other difficulties with thinking, short-term memory, and mood (Dotto 1990:282). Illnesses and aging increase with sleep deprivation because your body is too busy coping with other problems to fight off disease (Kazi); and also, one of the major functions of sleep is to allow chemicals within the body to repair cell damage and ward off infectious diseases (Uddin). Night workers may also experience a kind of sleep paralysis in which their muscles become so rigid that they literally cannot move; in fact, it takes a lot of effort for other people to move them. . . About 12% of nurses and 16% of traffic controllers said they had experienced this condition (Dotto 1990:233). Finally, a study done by the American Cancer Society found men who slept about 4 hours a night were 10 times more likely to have died . . . than those who had slept between 7 and 8 hours a night and even people whose sleep
was only slightly off the average . . . had higher death rates (Dotto 1990:133). ACCIDENTS AND DISASTERS The personal damage to individuals who do not get enough sleep is high. But far worse is the harm they inflict on many other innocent people. Courts have now attributed nuclear accidents like Chernobyl and Three Mile Island (Dotto 1990:18), space shuttle accidents like the U.S. Challenger accident (Dotto 1990:246), airline accidents (Dotto 1990:17), car accidents (Dotto 1990:18), disastrous government decisions (Dotto 1990:276), and doctor-caused deaths (Dotto 1990:17) to sleep-deprivation. With regards to car accidents alone, it is estimated that 13% of the annual total is caused by people falling asleep at the wheel (Dotto 1990:74). Considering the cost in dollars and lives of all these accidents, all people should try to get an appropriate amount of sleep. If they are unwilling to do it for themselves, they should do it for innocent others. ALTERING SLEEP HABITS Some people will complain its impossible for them to go to sleep earlier because when they try to they just lie in bed awake. But according to Mortimer Mamelak, director of the Sleep Disorders Centre at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, strange sleep habits are just thathabits that can be altered if the person needs to or wants to. Perseverance is necessary to defeat poor sleep habits, but it can be done, especially if you cut down on caffeine, smoking, chocolate, and alcohol (Dotto 1990:74). Why alcohol? Even in moderate doses alcohol can cause rebound insomnia, in which you fall asleep easily but wake up a short time later and lie awake (Are You Getting Enough Sleep?).
CONCLUSION Most teenagers need 7 to 7 遜 hours of sleep a night. Getting less than that will hurt their grades, their moods, and their health, and may also hurt innocent people around them. To give themselves a better chance at success and to be socially responsible, all people need to carefully evaluate if they are sleep-deprived. If the answer is yes, sleep habits should be changed. Dont just continue to nod off in class or consume record- breaking amounts of caffeine. Instead enjoy the restorative properties of a nice, long, dream-filled night of sleep.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Are You Getting Enough Sleep? Health Beat. http://www.hslib.washington.edu/your_health/ hbeat/hb960305.html (31 Mar. 1999). Dotto, Lydia. Losing Sleep: How Your Sleeping Habits Affect Your Life. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1990. Gayman, Tara. Sleep Deprivation. http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/course/85-102/student_work/gayman.html (31 Mar. 1999). Gorman, Christine. Get Some Sleep. Time. 29 Mar. 1999: 225. How to Tell If Youre Not Getting Enough Sleep. Jet. 2 Mar. 1998: 12. Kazi, Zaheer. Sleep Deprivation. http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~zkazi/sleepdep.html (31 Mar. 1999). Lamberg, Lynne. Knitting Up the Raveled Sleave of Care: Role of Sleep and Effects of Its Lack Examined. Journal of the American Medical Association. 16 Oct. 1996: 1205-1207. Link, Stacie C. and Ancoli-Israel, Sonia. Sleep and the Teenager. http://bisleep.medsch.ucla.edu/WFSRS/abstracts/htdocs/ab100.html (31 Mar. 1999). Sleep Deprivation. http://www.kron.com/nc4/healthbeat/stories/sleep.html (31 Mar. 1999). Sleep Disorders. http://www.mhsource.com/hy/sleep.html (31 Mar. 1999). Uddin, Saeed. Dont Let the Bed Bugs Bite. The Daily Northwestern. http://www.simpson.edu/~thesimp/archives/091296/bed.html (31 Mar. 1999).
SELF-EVALUATION 1. What was easy about doing this project? The reading was easy because I was genuinely interested in my research question. 2. What was difficult about doing this project? Finding the time to do the research and type up the paper was the toughest part since, in addition to teaching during the day and at night, I am taking a graduate course, and I am a single mother. 3. Were the sources you used adequate for thoroughly answering your research question? They were okay. But I would have liked to find more books and less Internet articles produced by college students. 4. How do you think you could have improved your paper or presentation? I wish I could have used a more sophisticated computer and a color printer, and I would have liked to have found a few more sources. 5. What things would you do differently next time during the research phase of a project such as this? I would use a periodical search service that has more full texts available, and I would use less Internet sources since the validity of some of those sources is questionable.

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Sleep paper

  • 1. HOW MUCH SLEEP DO TEENAGERS REALLY NEED, AND WHAT ARE THE SHORT AND LONG TERM EFFECTS OF NOT GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP? Prepared for Ms. McQueen By Jane Doe Period 1 May 3, 1999
  • 2. Teachers have observed groggy high school students nodding off in their classrooms for centuries. The introspective teacher asks, Is it me, or are my students not getting the sleep they need? To determine if sleep deprivation is the cause of ones students drifting off, the inquisitive teacher must explore two issues. First, how much sleep do teenagers really need; and second, what are the short and long term effects of not getting enough sleep? To discover answers to these questions, researchers have been conducting experiments for the past fifty years. The most relevant results of these years of research focus on: symptoms of sleep deprivation mental, physical, and emotional problems caused by inadequate amounts of sleep accidents and disasters that can be linked to sleep deficits, and methods for effectively altering poor sleeping habits and insomnia. SYMPTOMS Ninety percent of the public can determine their sleeping needs from the following chart: Newborns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-18 hours/day 4 year olds . . . . . . . . . .. 10-12 hours/day 10 year olds 9-10 hours/day 13-18 year olds 7 遜 hours/day 20-70 year olds 7 hours/day People over 70 6-6 遜 hours/day (Dotto 1990:38)
  • 3. However, ten percent of the public are short sleepers or long sleepers and can be perfectly healthy with much more or much less sleep. To determine if you are one of these people who have substantially different sleep needs than the rest of the public, ask yourself how you feel when you wake up during the day. If you generally feel rested and ready to tackle whatever comes you way, you are getting an appropriate amount of sleep. On the other hand, according to Dr. Maas who wrote the book Power Sleep, if three or more of the following sentences describe you, there is a good chance you are suffering from sleep deprivation. I need an alarm clock to wake up. Its a struggle for me to get out of bed in the morning. I feel tired, irritable, and stressed out during the week. I have trouble concentrating. I have trouble remembering things. I feel slow at critical thinking, problem solving, and being creative. I often fall asleep watching TV. I find it hard to stay awake in boring meetings or lectures or warm rooms. I often nod off after heavy meals or after a low dose of alcohol. I often feel drowsy while driving. I often sleep extra hours on weekend mornings. I often need a nap to get through the day. I often have dark circles under my eyes. Ive been drinking more coffee than usual. Im catching more colds or keeping colds longer than I usually do. I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. (How to Tell 1998:12) Some people might want to argue over whether the above sentences truly indicate a sleep deprivation problem. For example, many people believe it is totally understandable that a person would fall asleep at a boring meeting. But according to Dr. Maas, the finger of blame is being pointed in the wrong direction. If you have had adequate sleep, you might get fidgety or angry or bored or restless or uncomfortable, but not sleepy (How to Tell 1998:12). Likewise, again according to Dr. Maas,
  • 4. Bragging that you fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow does not necessarily show that you are in good health . . . . The well-rested person takes 15 to 20 minutes to fall asleep. Think how ridiculous it would sound to brag about being a good eater because you devour your meals the instant they are put in front of you. Such behavior would be indicative of food de- privation, not good nutrition (How to Tell 1998:12). EFFECTS So suppose you or someone you know is not getting enough sleep. Whats the big deal? Are the effects of sleep deprivation terribly significant? Yes, especially when added together. Among the possible effects mentioned in research literature are a loss of motivation (an I-just-dont-care-attitude); additional depression, feelings of inferiority, anxiety, and irritability; difficulty concentrating and forgetfulness; a loss of spontaneity, flexibility, and originality (since a tired mind will stick to known ways of doing things); lower exam scores (especially on essay exams and math exams); delusions and inaccurate perceptions of reality; weight gain (since people tend to munch on food at random intervals to keep themselves awake) or weight loss (since the body needs more energy to get through each day); longer and more frequent illnesses; premature aging; temporary paralysis; and even earlier death (Dotto 1990:155-157). If you have doubts about some of the items on the above list, consider the following bits of evidence. Typical comments by sleep-deprived shift workers include: I used to hunt, fish, and enjoy sport activities. I lost interest in everything . . . I could see such a difference in my friends at work. People would go to the break area, and no one would talk to each other; and if they did, it was something negative about their work (Dotto 1990:237).
  • 5. Teenagers often want to stay up late for fun or to cram the night before a major exam, but several studies reveal that students with higher GPAs go to bed earlier and wake up earlier on weekdays and weekends than students with lower GPAs (Link). In fact, even staying up for as little as 2 hours past their normal bedtime could seriously affect how well they retain the information learned that day (Dotto 1990:160). Sleep-deprived doctors have exhibited irritability, cynicism, and chronic anger (Dotto 1990:283). In addition, studies of sleep-deprived interns show deficiencies in their mathematical skills, their ability to recognize abnormal heart rhythms, and other difficulties with thinking, short-term memory, and mood (Dotto 1990:282). Illnesses and aging increase with sleep deprivation because your body is too busy coping with other problems to fight off disease (Kazi); and also, one of the major functions of sleep is to allow chemicals within the body to repair cell damage and ward off infectious diseases (Uddin). Night workers may also experience a kind of sleep paralysis in which their muscles become so rigid that they literally cannot move; in fact, it takes a lot of effort for other people to move them. . . About 12% of nurses and 16% of traffic controllers said they had experienced this condition (Dotto 1990:233). Finally, a study done by the American Cancer Society found men who slept about 4 hours a night were 10 times more likely to have died . . . than those who had slept between 7 and 8 hours a night and even people whose sleep
  • 6. was only slightly off the average . . . had higher death rates (Dotto 1990:133). ACCIDENTS AND DISASTERS The personal damage to individuals who do not get enough sleep is high. But far worse is the harm they inflict on many other innocent people. Courts have now attributed nuclear accidents like Chernobyl and Three Mile Island (Dotto 1990:18), space shuttle accidents like the U.S. Challenger accident (Dotto 1990:246), airline accidents (Dotto 1990:17), car accidents (Dotto 1990:18), disastrous government decisions (Dotto 1990:276), and doctor-caused deaths (Dotto 1990:17) to sleep-deprivation. With regards to car accidents alone, it is estimated that 13% of the annual total is caused by people falling asleep at the wheel (Dotto 1990:74). Considering the cost in dollars and lives of all these accidents, all people should try to get an appropriate amount of sleep. If they are unwilling to do it for themselves, they should do it for innocent others. ALTERING SLEEP HABITS Some people will complain its impossible for them to go to sleep earlier because when they try to they just lie in bed awake. But according to Mortimer Mamelak, director of the Sleep Disorders Centre at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, strange sleep habits are just thathabits that can be altered if the person needs to or wants to. Perseverance is necessary to defeat poor sleep habits, but it can be done, especially if you cut down on caffeine, smoking, chocolate, and alcohol (Dotto 1990:74). Why alcohol? Even in moderate doses alcohol can cause rebound insomnia, in which you fall asleep easily but wake up a short time later and lie awake (Are You Getting Enough Sleep?).
  • 7. CONCLUSION Most teenagers need 7 to 7 遜 hours of sleep a night. Getting less than that will hurt their grades, their moods, and their health, and may also hurt innocent people around them. To give themselves a better chance at success and to be socially responsible, all people need to carefully evaluate if they are sleep-deprived. If the answer is yes, sleep habits should be changed. Dont just continue to nod off in class or consume record- breaking amounts of caffeine. Instead enjoy the restorative properties of a nice, long, dream-filled night of sleep.
  • 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY Are You Getting Enough Sleep? Health Beat. http://www.hslib.washington.edu/your_health/ hbeat/hb960305.html (31 Mar. 1999). Dotto, Lydia. Losing Sleep: How Your Sleeping Habits Affect Your Life. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1990. Gayman, Tara. Sleep Deprivation. http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/course/85-102/student_work/gayman.html (31 Mar. 1999). Gorman, Christine. Get Some Sleep. Time. 29 Mar. 1999: 225. How to Tell If Youre Not Getting Enough Sleep. Jet. 2 Mar. 1998: 12. Kazi, Zaheer. Sleep Deprivation. http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~zkazi/sleepdep.html (31 Mar. 1999). Lamberg, Lynne. Knitting Up the Raveled Sleave of Care: Role of Sleep and Effects of Its Lack Examined. Journal of the American Medical Association. 16 Oct. 1996: 1205-1207. Link, Stacie C. and Ancoli-Israel, Sonia. Sleep and the Teenager. http://bisleep.medsch.ucla.edu/WFSRS/abstracts/htdocs/ab100.html (31 Mar. 1999). Sleep Deprivation. http://www.kron.com/nc4/healthbeat/stories/sleep.html (31 Mar. 1999). Sleep Disorders. http://www.mhsource.com/hy/sleep.html (31 Mar. 1999). Uddin, Saeed. Dont Let the Bed Bugs Bite. The Daily Northwestern. http://www.simpson.edu/~thesimp/archives/091296/bed.html (31 Mar. 1999).
  • 9. SELF-EVALUATION 1. What was easy about doing this project? The reading was easy because I was genuinely interested in my research question. 2. What was difficult about doing this project? Finding the time to do the research and type up the paper was the toughest part since, in addition to teaching during the day and at night, I am taking a graduate course, and I am a single mother. 3. Were the sources you used adequate for thoroughly answering your research question? They were okay. But I would have liked to find more books and less Internet articles produced by college students. 4. How do you think you could have improved your paper or presentation? I wish I could have used a more sophisticated computer and a color printer, and I would have liked to have found a few more sources. 5. What things would you do differently next time during the research phase of a project such as this? I would use a periodical search service that has more full texts available, and I would use less Internet sources since the validity of some of those sources is questionable.