Spring Break
Catching those Z's
Stephanie Fu
Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: Opinion
Last week, one of the boys I babysit went through a surgery to get his tonsils and adenoid glands removed. The reason for this surgery was suggested by a therapist because she thought that he wasn't focusing well in school. He seemed to constantly be restless, which the physician believed to be due to a lack of adequate sleep. The cause: a mild sleep apnea induced by the swollen glands.
Through this long explanation, a fairly simple theory can be derived -- people need sleep.
This began to remind me of how lack of sleep can affect my day in a similar manner to this young boy's. When I don't get enough sleep, I can't focus in class. I daydream or fall asleep at inappropriate times and I'm always ready to be done with everything so that I can get home. As a result, my work is sloppy and seems unorganized. This scenario is familiar to other students like me, but there is a great misconception in our "quick fixes" for our fatigue.
The National Sleep Foundation in the United States says that seven to nine hours of sleep every night is "adequate." As most of us college students know, seven to nine hours is nearly impossible every single night, so what are we to do?
We tend to ignore our need for sleep by masking the withdrawals.
The most common mistake made is putting a great deal of trust in the power nap. A person requires at least six hours of sleep for his or her circadian rhythms to become balanced, and even though a few minutes of shut eye may keep you from falling off your chair in your dreaded, late afternoon class, it won't give you the rest your body really needs.
Our next quick fix is our daily cup of coffee, but this extra caffeine will not give your body the same benefits as a good night's sleep.
The body eventually catches up. My friends and I have experienced dizziness, shaking and a general sense of disorder and inability to focus when we have gone too long without sleep. Consequently, this makes finishing that stack of papers take twice as long.
Through this long explanation, a fairly simple theory can be derived -- people need sleep.
This began to remind me of how lack of sleep can affect my day in a similar manner to this young boy's. When I don't get enough sleep, I can't focus in class. I daydream or fall asleep at inappropriate times and I'm always ready to be done with everything so that I can get home. As a result, my work is sloppy and seems unorganized. This scenario is familiar to other students like me, but there is a great misconception in our "quick fixes" for our fatigue.
The National Sleep Foundation in the United States says that seven to nine hours of sleep every night is "adequate." As most of us college students know, seven to nine hours is nearly impossible every single night, so what are we to do?
We tend to ignore our need for sleep by masking the withdrawals.
The most common mistake made is putting a great deal of trust in the power nap. A person requires at least six hours of sleep for his or her circadian rhythms to become balanced, and even though a few minutes of shut eye may keep you from falling off your chair in your dreaded, late afternoon class, it won't give you the rest your body really needs.
Our next quick fix is our daily cup of coffee, but this extra caffeine will not give your body the same benefits as a good night's sleep.
The body eventually catches up. My friends and I have experienced dizziness, shaking and a general sense of disorder and inability to focus when we have gone too long without sleep. Consequently, this makes finishing that stack of papers take twice as long.
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