College life is meant to be fun and rewarding. However, there is often so much work to do, that making sleep a priority seems impossible. Students have assignments that keep them awake all night and social events that they need to attend to remain relevant among their peers. However, you need to understand that, while the courseload and extracurricular activities may have you struggling to manage your time effectively, you need to understand that prioritizing quality sleep is imperative for your health and well-being.
Of course, one night of lack of sleep may not cause much
damage, apart from the sleepiness and fatigue you may feel the next day.
However, continuously pulling all-nighters and regular bad sleeping habits can
have serious effects on your mental and physical health as well as your
academic performance. Here is an analysis of why sleep is crucial for the
success of college students.
How Much Sleep Do College Students Need?
There is no denying the fact that college students get far
too little sleep. According to a recent study, nearly 40% of students indicate
that lack of enough sleep impedes their academic performance. But how does one
determine insufficient sleep? How many hours of slumber does a college student
need?
According to experts, college students need about seven to
eight hours of uninterrupted and quality sleep each night. This means that if
you are getting only five or six hours of sleep regularly, then you are
sleep-deprived. It is justified, in such situations, to pay for essay online instead of pulling all-nighters to work
on urgent tasks.
So, how does one know how much sleep the body needs? This
can be determined by observing how much you sleep when there is no need to get
up. Most college students can sleep eight to nine hours if they don’t have a
reason to get up. This is the approved amount of sleep you need. Unfortunately,
more than half of college students in the United States get less than seven hours
of sleep.
Please note that trying to catch up on missed sleep during
the weekends and holidays will not benefit you in any way. The pattern harms
you by interfering with your circadian rhythm and is, therefore, not an
effective solution to sleep deprivation.
Why Is Getting Quality Sleep Important?
The undeniable truth is that staying up late and pumping
your system with caffeine during an all-nighter to study is not a good plan to
improve your academic performance. According to recent research, students need
seven or eight hours of quality sleep to remain focused and remember important
concepts. Here are some important reasons why quality sleep is important:
·
Sleep Benefits Your Physical Health
One of the main reasons to prioritize quality sleep is that
it gives our bodies a chance to rest, which then improves our physical health.
Evidence shows that the human body is incapable of performing well without
sleep. During sleep, the muscles relax and major organs get to replenish. In
other words, a sleep session is a chance to power off and recharge your body.
This gives you the energy you need to keep up with the following day’s
activities.
Healthy sleeping habits have also been shown to improve
students’ immune systems, allowing them to avoid diseases and infections. According
to recent studies, lack of quality sleep can negatively affect your immune
system, meaning that pulling those all-nighters can expose you to a greater
risk of illness after being exposed to a virus or bacteria. Furthermore, lack
of adequate sleep can also affect your recovery if you get sick. The point here
is that getting quality sleep now can affect your health and well-being well
beyond your college years.
· Sleep Improves Your Mental Health
Sleep is also linked to multiple mental health outcomes.
Having a good day starts with a good sleep the night before. In other words,
those who don’t get restful slumber tend to struggle with regulating their
moods. They are easily irritable, which can be damaging to their social
interactions and relationships.
Sleep is also important for stress management. Stress is a
state of worry or mental tension resulting from a seemingly challenging
situation. It is your body’s natural response that prompts you to address
difficult situations and threats in your life. Although we all experience
stress to some level, college students encounter stressful events on a more
regular basis.
Studies show that stress may get in the way of quality
sleep. According to researchers, students tend to struggle to fall asleep and
sustain quality slumber when facing stressful situations. The relationship
between stress and sleep is complex as lack of sleep also increases stress
levels. Many studies show that the level of stress tends to increase as the
quality of sleep declines.
Quality sleep helps in stress management by reducing the
production of the stress hormone, cortisol. When a student is sleep-deprived,
the body responds as it would when in a state of distress, by triggering the
production of stress hormones. Cortisol is a chemical responsible for our
fight-or-flight response in reaction to dangerous encounters. Too much cortisol
from lack of sleep also increases the risk of weight gain and cardiovascular
diseases.
· Sleep Improves Alertness and Judgment
Students need to make informed decisions and show good
judgment. This means that they need to stay alert and focused during the day.
However, evidence shows that lack of sleep causes lethargy and fatigue, making
it hard for students to focus during lectures and study hours. Sleep
deprivation also compromises judgment, increasing the risk of accidents and
making it hard to perform even mundane tasks. Experts indicate that drowsy
driving from insufficient sleep is one of the main causes of accidents on our
roads.
The Bottom Line
This article looks at the importance of sleep for college
students, making a case for why students need more hours of quality slumber.
Remember that lack of sufficient sleep regularly is bad for your mental and
physical health. It can compromise your judgment and increase your risk of
causing accidents. Set a sleep schedule to make sure you are getting the
recommended seven or eight hours of slumber regularly.
