The Causes And Effects Of Sleep Deprivation

Without adequate sleep, it is difficult for a person to function on a practical level both mentally and physically. (Dewald) As society underestimates the significance of rest and reframes the idea of getting enough sleep as an indulgence rather than a necessity, people begin to feel the effects of being stretched too thin brought on by chronic sleep deprivation. (Owens) Children are not immune to this growing trend both because they require, on average, more sleep than grown adults and they feel the pressures of high expectations brought on by an evolving culture.(Owens) It is not uncommon to see children overcommitted to rigorous schedules filled with extracurricular, primary schools setting their start times earlier each year, and cell phones

(ASA) There is no precise number for the minimum amount of time a person must sleep to stave off the symptoms of sleep deprivation on account that the number varies between demographics or even between individuals within each group. However, the National Sleep Foundation asserts that the recommended target range for school-aged children is between 9 to 11 hours of sleep each night. (NSF) Chronic sleep deprivation is a common problem in developing children and adolescents resulting in lasting detriments such as poor decision making, mood disorders, and declining academic performance. (Sadeh) In this paper, I wish to investigate the topic of how a consistent lack of sleep impacts mental health and cognitive performance in school-age

(Dahl) The frontal lobe is the area responsible for higher thinking skills and cognitive processes. As a result, a child's performance in areas such as creativity, memory recall, or problem-solving skills will decrease when the frontal lobe cannot function properly. (Dahl) These skills are a vital necessity for children to excel in their classes and remain motived in their studies. An essential component of learning is neuroplasticity, the ability for the brain to grow and create new pathways in response to new information. This process occurs more efficiently during sleep while the mind restores synapses and processes memory information. (Gorgoni) Slow wave sleep is the final stage of the sleep cycle and consequently, the hardest to spend meaningful time in. It is also the stage in which neural plasticity is found to be most effective furthermore highlighting the importance of quality sleep. (Gorgoni) It would seem that there is a strong positive correlation between grades and hours of rest. (Beebe) The more sleep a student consistently got during the school year meant that their school performance would remain higher than their overtired peers. Research affirms that students suffering from poor sleep quality were more prone to do worse on their exams and make more mistakes than their peers getting the recommended sleep each night. This is due to fatigue dampening the strength of the neurons causing