Sleep is a beautiful thing. It’s a seemingly magical process in which all of the humans on Earth take part in every single day that also leaves one feeling physically and mentally refreshed. However, people tend to underestimate just how crucial sleep is to successfully accomplish an endeavor or act out a busy life. Most Americans lead hectic and overbooked lives which leave them far too little time to sleep. Sleep is critically important to life because it has a bountiful amount of benefits and because sleep disorders have monumentally negative effects on people’s lives.
It wasn’t until the 1950’s that America’s view on sleep changed. Before, sleep was thought of as the human body’s way of rebooting, however, sleep accomplishes far more. For
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Here is where the fine tuning of the human mind is engineered. The effects of sleep on people 's ability to learn and perform a variety of tasks is nothing short of colossal. There is “a cascade of new findings, in humans…that sleep plays a critical role in flagging and storing important memories…seeing subtle connections that were invisible during waking…a new way to solve math or…even an unseen pattern causing stress in a marriage” (Grohol). This excerpt from Psych Central’s website illustrates with precision the positive side of sleep and that REM is a key contributor in the retainment of …show more content…
This is an alarming number. Losing sleep doesn’t sound like a huge problem but if night upon night of sleeplessness is taken into account then it appears quite harmful. Unfortunately, sleep disorders continue to be cast aside and disregarded by people who fail to see them as legitimate ailments. However, they are very real. Two superb examples of sleeping disorders are Insomnia and REM Sleep Behavior Disorder. These account for about five million of the recorded sleep disorder cases in America. Insomnia is, by definition, a persistent disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, stay asleep, or both, despite the opportunity for adequate sleep (Mayo Clinic). Simply by reading this definition one can imagine the terrible struggle the people with this disorder face on a daily basis. Constant exhaustion that continues to compile and can, unfortunately and often, lead to depression. REM Sleep Behavior Disorder, which is defined by a person falling into REM sleep and they experience vivid nightmares and repeatedly act out with violence against these night terrors and unfortunately, tend to hurt people because of their outbursts. There is a report of a seventy-one-year-old man, who in 2005
Each year at least 40 million Americans suffer from long term, persistent sleep disorders, and an additional 20 million experience occasional sleeping problems. About 60 million Americans a year have insomnia and it tends to increase with age and affects about 40 percent of women and 30 percent of men. It is estimated that 18 million Americas are suffering from sleep apnea, 12 million have RLS, and 250,000 are affected by narcolepsy. Adults typically need between 6 and 10 hours of sleep per 24 hour period, and most people need approximately 8 hours of sleep per day. Infants generally need about 16 hours per day; whereas, teenagers require 9 hours on average. In the first 3 months of...
Chronic sleep loss is becoming more common in modern culture and less restricted to sleep-deprived diseases such as insomnia. Suggested to be the result of a number car, industrial, medical, and other occupational accidents, sleep deprivation is beginning to be recognized as a public concern. As a result, the Centers for Disease Control
Sleep deprivation is a commonplace occurrence in modern culture. Every day there seems to be twice as much work and half as much time to complete it in. This results in either extended periods of wakefulness or a decrease in sleep over an extended period of time. While some people may like to believe that they can train their bodies to not require as much sleep as they once did this belief is false (1). Sleep is needed to regenerate certain parts of the body, especially the brain, so that it may continue to function optimally. After periods of extended wakefulness or reduced sleep neurons may begin to malfunction, visibly effecting a person's behavior. Some organs, such as muscles, are able to regenerate even when a person is not sleeping so long as they are resting. This could involve lying awake but relaxed within a quite environment. Even though cognitive functions might not seem necessary in this scenario the brain, especially the cerebral cortex, is not able to rest but rather remains semi-alert in a state of "quiet readiness" (2). Certain stages of sleep are needed for the regeneration of neurons within the cerebral cortex while other stages of sleep seem to be used for forming new memories and generating new synaptic connections. The effects of sleep deprivation on behavior have been tested with relation to the presence of activity in different sections of the cerebral cortex.
Is sleep important for memory consolidation? Past research has found that sleep is an important factor in the consolidation of newly acquired memories; however, this consolidation often depends on the specific memory as well as when (e.g., time after learning) sleep occurs. It is important to note that sleep is not constant, throughout the night. Sleep is a cycle that is broken down into rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep (Stickgold, 2005). Non-REM consists of sleep stages 1 through 4, in which stages 3 and 4 constitute what is known as slow-wave sleep (SWS) (Rasch & Born, 2008). Moreover, the construct of memory is often divided into different types of memories, declarative (e.g., facts and events) and non-declarative (e.g., procedural skills) (Stickgold, 2005). When discussing memory consolidation, research has defined it as a progression of memory stabilization that leads memories to become resistant to interference (Stickgold, 2005). Results from past research indicate that memory consolidation occurs through the reactivation of memories during sleep, which enhances and stabilizes the memory (Diekelmann & Born, 2010).
When most people think of sleep, they think of it as a relaxed but yet not a very important part of our daily lives. What most people don’t understand is although we are not up and moving around and getting tasks completed, our brains are still very active. Without sleep our bodies do not function correctly on a daily basis, and our mental state is at risk.
Sleep is one of our basic needs to survive and to function in day to day operations, but not everyone needs the same amount of sleep. Some people can survive on very little sleep, i.e. five hours a night, and some people need a lot of sleep, to the extend that they are sleeping up to 10 to sometimes 15 hours a night (Nature, 2005). According to Wilson (2005) the general rule states that most people need from seven to eight hours of sleep. The deprivation of sleep in our society in continually increasing with the demands in society increasing work loads, the myth that a few hours of sleep is only necessary to function properly and that sleep is sometimes considered as killing time (Nature, 2005). Sometimes sleep deprivation is also caused by other situations like sleep disorders, i.e. sleep apnea, chronic insomnia or medical conditions such as stress (Wilson, 2005).
Sleep deprivation is a severe problem that can cause a variety of negative effects in everyday lives. Sleep is required for our survival and relied on for our mental and physical wellbeing. Because there is a greater awareness of the problems associated with sleep deprivation, our society is very fortunate to have the resources to seek the help that is needed.
Sleeping is something that is an essential part of human nature and is a must in order for one to be a functional human being. Sleep is an idea that is accompanied by many wives’ tales, including the ideas that one needs seven to eight hours of sleep each night and alcohol helps one fall asleep and sleep more soundly. One myth about sleep is that during sleeping, one is in a state of nothingness. In truth, however, it has been discovered that during sleep the brain is active, variations in heartbeat and breathing occur, and the eyes and ears are active throughout the time of sleep. These activities during a person’s sleep are important because they help that person be more aware, awake, and alert during consciousness. If all of these important activities occur during sleep, why is it that people are so willing to short themselves of this vital activity? Although much about sleep still remains a mystery, research and experiments continue to show how important sleep is to each and every person. Throughout this paper, I will discuss sleep and the effects that it has on performance and health, especially in college students. A college student’s sleeping pattern is a reliable indicator to their level of performance in the classroom and other school-affiliated activities, as a lack of sleep leads to decreased performance. Sleep is directly related the level of performance and health in an individual; the more rested a person is, the better that person will perform and feel (Dryer, 2006).
Each night, the average person spends approximately 7-9 hours giving their bodies a restful vacation in the land of dreams. Considering this, we spend 1/3 (or 25 years) of our entire lives engaging in this idle activity. Although these numbers can appear as a waste of time in our every day lives, sleeping and/or napping is the energy that helps fuel our bodies to function correctly. Sleep is a necessary function in our every day routine in order to make our brains function at the most efficient level. As we sleep, the brain helps us to recuperate and regain strength by “restoring and repairing the brain tissue” (Myers, 2010, p 99). Without this reviving process, we would all eventually deteriorate. By impairing the sleep deprived mentally and physically, it can potentially cause serious harm. We must fade our conscious mind, and let our mind relax within subconscious state.
In the world of higher education, students at the collegiate level are highly likely to be overwhelmed with course load, in addition to sports and extra-curricular activities (Jacobs & Dodd, 2003). These factors have the potential to lead to various amounts of sleep deprivation, and as the research of Nilsson, Sunderstrom, Karlsson et al. (2004) has shown, sleep deprivation is correlated with higher levels of fatigue, impairments in speed and accuracy as well as limitations in cognitive and physical performances. One way to cope with this fatigue that has shown to have very positive results on people of all ages is taking naps. In addition to reducing sleepiness, Milner & Cote (2008) have determined that “napping may lead to considerable benefits in terms of mood, alertness and cognitive performances”. It is these benefits that nappers seek when engaging in napping activities.
Sleep is an integral part of life, but differs from other states of reduced consciousness in that the brain is still somewhat active. Sleep is an “altered state of consciousness, [with the sleeper losing] substantial contact with the external world.” (Gazzaniga, M., & Heatherton, T., 2016). Nonetheless, brain activity has an extensive role in the creation of “sleep”, generating two distinct types - slow-wave sleep, also referred to as deep sleep, and rapid eye movement, also called the dreaming stage. Comprised of five stages, sleep is a complex state of mind, also consisting of patterns known as circadian rhythms. Operating as a behavior, sleep alters to suit our bodily needs, and informs us of such needs through an intricate network of nerves. Furthermore, without obtaining an ideal amount of sleep, problems can arise that may affect one’s wellbeing. Detailed research and studies previously conducted on the subject of sleep allows the accumulation of information to be
Sleep disorders are an underestimated public health concern considering that fifty to seventy million Americans are affected. Technological advances in the field of sleep have facilitated various theories to explain the need for and the purpose of sleep. Scientist have uncovered many types of sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep apnea, and narcolepsy. Sleep disorders affect men ,women, children, the elderly, and the obese in different ways. Factors such as the number of children and the effects of menopause have been studied to determine their effects on sleep. Various treatments have been utilized ranging from non-pharmacologic to pharmacologic methods. Scientist have pinpointed areas of the brain that are involved in sleep deprivation and hormones that ultimately affect sleep.
Important public policy issues have arisen in our modern 24-hour society, where it is crucial to weigh the value of sleep versus wakefulness. Scientific knowledge about sleep is currently insufficient to resolve the political and academic debates raging about how much and when people should sleep. These issues affect almost everybody, from the shift worker to the international traveler, from the physician to the policy maker, from the anthropologist to the student preparing for an exam.
Sleep is a very important factor in the human function. Our body and brain is able to reset itself and rejuvenate while we sleep. When we do not get the required amount of sleep, we start to feel lethargic and foggy minded, because our mind and body wasn’t able to replenish itself. Sleep is imperative that an insignificant rest deficiency or lack of sleep can affect our ability to remember things; decisions and can affect our temperament. Chronic sleep deficiency can get the body to feel agitated and it could lead to serious health problems such as, heart problems, stress, acne, and obesity.
Sleep is very important for human beings. Sleeping means taking rest for every person and each person spends one-third of his lifetime sleeping. Without sleeping, no one can exist in this world. Sleeping is essential for a person’s health and well-being throughout his life. Getting enough quality sleep at the right times helps all people protect their mental health, physical health and safety. A person who does not get enough sleep might suffer from mental disorders, diseases and even harmful situations. Therefore, it is important for every human being to have enough sleep.