Sleep Deprivation In The College Life

The college life is not exactly what is imagined by the average young adult. Commercials and movies tend to portray college as if it’s a tropical getaway as well as persuading viewers that the college life is a no-brainer. College is full of excitement and opportunities, they say, which is true, but fail to inform that the college life comes with many responsibilities as well as sleepless nights. Sleep deprivation is a condition that occurs if lacking the correct amount of sleep. Sleep deprivation is a serious problem due to the long term as well as short term effects the condition can have on the body, such as causing the brain to function improperly, lowering academic performance, and if continued long enough it can decrease your body’s defenses

due to driving while drowsy.” (Mark W. Mahowald, MD). Not only college students but other persons such as doctors, nurses, or any career that requires long hours can also be sleep deprived due to the extensive hours they work. Sleep deprivation is a disorder that is often overlooked by doctors and researchers. Most people who are sleep deprived don’t even realize it. Many commonly say “Oh, I’ll catch up on sleep this weekend,” but what people often don’t know is that the body has a two primary processes that determine how much sleep is obtained. The homeostatic sleep drive and the circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm, also called the internal clock helps to regulate sleep and wake cycles as well as hormonal secretions while the homeostatic sleep drive increases the need for sleep. “Physiologically, adolescents and young adults tend to have a delayed circadian preference, and are “night owls”. This change occurs in association with puberty; more physically mature adolescents have a preference for later bedtimes and may have a lower homeostatic sleep drive, and consequently, are less sleepy at night.” (Hershner, Chervin). According to the doctors previously mentioned, it is said that due to the lower homeostatic drive of mature young adults, such as college students, they tend to have a preference for later bedtimes which is a prime reason for sleep deprivation amongst college students. “How the circadian rhythm and homeostatic sleep drive change with puberty is not well understood, but the cumulative effect is that adolescents and young adults feel more awake in the evening, have a difficult time falling asleep until later, and consequently, have insufficient sleep during the school week and catch-up on sleep on the weekend,” says Dr.’s Hershner and Chervin, which is greatly