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Sleep
and Your Health
It
has been well established that college
students often do not get enough quality
sleep. This is an unfortunate realization
because a good night’s rest can
positively affect mind and body health
and an overall sense of well-being.
The most recent studies suggest that
the majority of us need approximately
8 hours of sleep. Too little or too
much sleep (less than or more than
8 hours) will result in the manifestation
of a variety of symptoms that can,
in time, impair a person’s functioning
and may even cause serious illness.
Here is a list of symptoms of sleep
deprivation. As you note, these symptoms
potentially influence every aspect
of a person’s daily living.
Some Symptoms of Sleep Deprivation
• Perception deteriorates
(resulting in hallucinations if sleep
loss is prolonged)
• Reaction time is damaged (interestingly, studies show that speed of reaction
does not simply slow down, as one might expect, but becomes increasingly more
erratic, surely a greater hazard than a predictable loss of speed).
• Performance of all tasks is impaired
• Energy levels decrease
• Motivation diminishes
• Vulnerability to pain increases
• Memory becomes faulty
• Efficiency is impaired
• Attentiveness is reduced
• Judgment breaks down
• Psychologically, one is apt to become negative, listless, hostile, detached
and depressed
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Sleep
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An
overactive mind seems to be the number
one contributor to insomnia. Hence,
learning to quiet your mind before
going to bed can make a difference
when it comes to getting as much quality
out of sleep as possible. There are
many methods of quieting a rambling
mind. Let us consider two such methods.
1.
Talk it out or write it down. If you
have difficulty quieting your mind, one
of the best approaches to reduce the mental
traffic is to talk about what you are thinking.
A “listening ear” who just listens
and does not offer all kinds of solutions
can make a big difference when it comes
to calming the mind. But this may not be
readily available to you, especially late
at night. The next best approach is to
simply write down your thoughts for a few
minutes (for a maximum of 20 minutes).
This simple yet highly effective exercise
has been shown to make a noticeable difference
in the amount of time that it takes for
people to fall asleep.
2. Meditative-Relaxation. Meditative-relaxation
is the kind of approach that focuses on
quieting the mind by focusing on calming
thoughts and images or by just simply paying
attention to your breathing. Prayer, for
example, can act as a powerful form of
meditative-relaxation (also consider the
simple relaxation technique that was demonstrated
earlier). That is why “counting the
sheep” or “counting the stars” has
been known to help people fall asleep.
They gently distract the mind and keep
it focused on something simple and benign
so that it can slowly drift into a state
of pleasant relaxation and fall asleep.
Some facts about normal sleep:
• It should take between 15-20 minutes to fall asleep.
• There are two to three very light interruptions during the total sleep
time.
• Everybody dreams. Too much dreaming suggests too much cognitive or emotional
activity. Too little dreaming may suggest trauma.
• Most of us need 8 - 81/2 hours of sleep. Too much sleep can cause a reduction
in blood oxygen levels.
• You should feel at least somewhat refreshed by the time you wake up in
the morning.
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