Harper College/Student Success/Self Care/Sleep Issues

Sleep Issues

Nick Mueller

“Usually only 21% of college students get the recommended seven to eight hours sleep each night.” {www.thegoodbody.com}. Sleep increases your growth and stress hormones in our immune system, appetite, breathing, and blood pressure. “[The Benefits of Slumber.”. Researchers show that less sleep can cause a risk of heart disease and infection. Sleep is the most important part of the day, especially for college students with the majority of their time being awake doing homework and going out, college students don’t necessarily get the recommended 8 hours of sleep as they should. It’s important to be educated about how sleep affects the daily life of an average college student and what should we do to get more sleep.

Some days you can’t sleep because you need to finish an assignment or had tons of Redbull energy drinks, or maybe because you had a rough night out. One night without sleep makes your body feel tired as well as the next morning, not being able to function the next day as you should. Our bodies require long periods of sleep, to, restore and rejuvenate, to grow muscle and repair tissue. {idahoptv.org}. Students say that 8 hours of sleep is good, and can increase your risk for serious conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and even death. When you are falling asleep, your brain starts to perk up, and its electrical activity starts to resemble the brain when it is awake, this is what’s called REM sleep. REM means rapid eye movement. {www.nichd.nih.gov}. When students stay awake for 24 hours it can affect their skills that will mess up their mind's ability to work efficiently. Sleep is very important to your brain functions, including how nerve cells communicate with each other. Heart attacks and strokes are more likely to occur during the early morning hours. College students usually must maintain working and go to school, this can usually lead to unhealthy eating habits and having a greater risk of heart attacks. {www.theodysseyonline.com} The average amount of sleep that teenagers get is between 7 to 7 ¼ hours. A college student may have trouble falling asleep or may wake up during the night or early in the morning because of studying or drinking. Dreaming happens during the night. In a full night's sleep, people experience three or four cycles of dreams, each lasting 60 to 90 minutes at least. Nightmares take place during the final and deepest phase of sleep. Some people have nightmares after having a late-night snack, which can increase metabolism and that signal the brain to be more active. Nightmares or bad dreams are a type of dream that causes you to feel anxiety, fear or terror. A student will wake up in the middle of the night, just after having a nightmare and he or she will be able to remember some image from the bad dream. Bad dreams can kill by causing a heart attack, but it does not show any evidence that Freddy Krueger can invade your dreams and kill you.{www.helpguide.org}

Panic attacks occur with no obvious trigger and awaken you from sleep. Most panic attacks last up to 10 minutes or more. Most leg injuries can result from running or just doing dumb shit. Some types of leg pain can be traced back to your lower spine and can even have a burning sensation in your leg that may have an injury during an intense exercise. It could also be the result of damage or exposure to extreme heat, cold, or a toxic substance. The feeling of pain makes it harder for the student to sleep at night. A student that Sleepwalk don't feel any pain during sleep. When your body is uncomfortable, it can make your mind more alert to where the pain is coming from. Students can possibly get psychosis disorders that may occur because of psychiatric illness, that can cause health conditions, medications, or drug use. The possible symptoms are hallucinations, talking incoherently, and agitation. The person with the condition usually isn't aware of his or her behavior. “College Students and Stress-Induced Heart Attacks. Psychosis beliefs that a person can be in a dangerous situation where their own life or others' safety can be compromised. Students with psychosis are rarely violent and in fact, they are in a much greater risk of causing harm to themselves than to others. The usual age where it's starting to come is 19-40. Common examples include hearing voices or believing that people are trying to do you harm. Psychosis can be treated, but if not, it may get worse and spread into a more intense experience of hallucinations and delusions. {www.stress.org} There are not many cures for psychosis, but there are many treatments out there. Under the breakdown, the symptoms must last up to three months or more. The recovery from the first episode usually takes up to months, If the symptoms remain or return, the person may have a long time recovering from treatment. Some people experience a difficult period lasting months or even years before effective further episodes. Most people have a good recovery and have their symptoms disappear or stay with them for a longer period. People may have a one-off episode, or it may be part of an ongoing illness such as schizophrenia. People with a history of psychosis are more likely to use drugs or alcohol.

Schizophrenia is a severe mental that can affect student thinking, feelings and behaves. A routine helps peoples bodies know when to sleep and when you wake up. Also, it can get hard to go to sleep or stay asleep because of peoples fear or anxiety that keeps them up at night. People that do treatment understand the cause of your poor sleep, they can treat you back to health. Sometimes sleep can improve with a change in sleeping habits. Some symptoms are daytime drowsiness, and sleep attacks. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that usually appears in adulthood. {www.medicalnewstoday.com}. This can start between the age of 16 and 30. Men tend to experience symptoms earlier than women. Some people may be prone to schizophrenia and a stressful or emotional life event that might have to trigger an episode. People that have schizophrenia usually have difficulty keeping jobs and caring for themselves. They must rely on family and friends for help. The disease is often misunderstood, but it is treatable, and in many cases, the individual can go on to lead a productive and have a normal life ahead of him. Studies show that people with schizophrenia can manage without any medicine after ten years.

Reference 68 (Surprising) Sleep Facts: Scary, Important, Interesting, Fun! (2019, April 17). Retrieved from https://www.thegoodbody.com/sleep-facts/

The Benefits of Slumber. (2018, April 04). Retrieved from https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2013/04/benefits-slumber

Sleep: Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://idahoptv.org/sciencetrek/topics/sleep/facts.cfm

What is REM sleep? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/sleep/conditioninfo/rem-sleep

College Students And Stress-Induced Heart Attacks. (2017, August 28). Retrieved from https://www.theodysseyonline.com/college-students-and-stress-induced-heart-attacks

How to Sleep Better. (2019, March 21). Retrieved from https://www.helpguide.org/articles/sleep/getting-better-sleep.htm/

health and Stress Newsletters. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.stress.org/education/archives/health-and-stress-newsletters

Ordqvist, C. (2017, December 07). Schizophrenia: Symptoms, causes, and treatments. Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/36942.php