Sleep, The Underrated Superhero

Post date: May 3, 2023

By Jolie Frangipani

I am exhausted. Why is my brain fogged? Why can I not keep my eyes open? Why do I feel so stupid in the morning? These questions can be answered with a simple word, SLEEP or lack of sleep. Good sleep has many benefits for the human body and how we live our day-to-day lives. Getting the proper, deep sleep needed by the body is essential to a healthy, functioning brain. Students and teachers need to recognize that sleep or lack of sleep can make students have difficulty learning and may even cause them to fail.

Sleeping improves the way one thinks throughout the day, helps maintain healthy body weight, reduces stress and anxiety, and decreases disease risk. It can affect memory and task performance. Lack of sleep can even affect one's moral judgment. Getting enough sleep is beneficial to one's physical and mental health. According to an article published by the National Institute of Health:

"Sleep loss impairs your higher levels of reasoning, problem-solving, and attention to detail...tired people tend to be less productive at work. They are at a much higher risk for traffic accidents. Lack of sleep also influences your mood, affecting your interactions with others. A sleep deficit over time can even put you at greater risk of developing depression" (Wein, 2013, p. 1). 

The seriousness of lack of sleep sometimes goes unnoticed until exhaustion sets in. People may blame other things on their behavior, not realizing it is sleep deprivation related. The cognitive and physical positive aspects of good sleep are instrumental to a person's overall well-being. 

Throughout the year, many things impair sleep. A big sleep interrupter every year is Daylight Savings Time. Regaining a more consistent sleep routine can take at least a month. Daylight, temperature, and noise are the most common things that impair sleep. The circadian rhythm is affected when these things are off. There are sleep strategies to implement, like avoiding caffeine, to improve sleep hygiene. Sleep can improve quickly when someone stops drinking caffeinated drinks in the afternoon and evening and uses room-darkening shades and a white noise machine to reduce background noises around the house. Also, cracking a bedroom window to allow cooler air to circulate while sleeping. 

Giving up additional caffeine late in the day can stop the heart from racing at bedtime and allows a person to relax more quickly. People may notice a considerable improvement in sleep quality when using a good sleep strategy. After implementing these sleep hygiene practices, people sleep more soundly and feel more energetic in the morning. 

Being able to attain and keep a practice that allows for a solid night of sleep consistently is a valuable gift. So stop the late-night Tik Toking, quit the video games early, hang up on your girlfriend, and go to bed. Your body and brain are counting on you!