The Importance of Sleep

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The longest period of time that a person has gone without sleep is eighteen days, twenty-one hours, and forty minutes during a rocking chair marathon! That sounds surprising to some people, but now days, Americans are getting less and less of their recommended amount of sleep. Along with breathing, drinking, and eating, sleep is one of the main pillars for maintaining good mental and physical health. But what is sleep? Sleep is a complex process that includes low outside awareness, relaxed muscles, and a suspended state of consciousness. While asleep, our bodies undertake many important activities that allow our brains to recover and regenerate for the day ahead. Getting enough sleep is essential to sustaining a happy, healthy quality of life! Everyone should get the full amount of his or her suggested sleep, and partake in the easy activities to help obtain more restful slumber, or else face the physical, mental, and emotional repercussions of sleep deprivation.
The amount of sleep that a person needs is unique for each individual, but scientists have created a “rule of thumb” for each age group of humans. For young children, the magic number is ten to eleven hours, and for adults, it is seven to eight hours of sleep per night. According to Daisy Fernchild, from the Global Post, teenagers need about nine and a quarter hours of sleep each night in order to function properly the next day. However, many teenagers ignore this suggestion, and stay awake far longer than they should. As a result, they are not awake and ready to learn at school the next morning. The American Psychological Association recently conducted a study on teenagers’ mental alertness at school. In this study, they found that “Almost half of the students who bega...

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"How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?" National Sleep Foundation. N.p., 2013. Web.
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"Sleep and Teens." UCLA Health. N.p., 2014. Web. 7 May 2014.
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