Putting Sleep Misinformation to Bed

While we all know we’re supposed to hit the magic eight-hour mark every night, college students have far too many irons in the fire to worry about sleep. Instead, they prioritize landing the next internship, studying for tomorrow’s exam or catching up on “Grey’s Anatomy,” pushing rest to the side. From work to school to friendships, there are simply too many items on the checklist to pencil in time to sleep.

However, it’s not just dismissal of the importance of sleep that causes students to neglect their beds. A host of other issues play into student sleep deprivation, and these issues should be the concern of the faculty and staff of the entire campus.

An important factor in student exhaustion is the fact that college students suffer from incredibly high levels of stress. Many other reasons for poor sleep health can be associated with stress, which both prevents sleep and lowers the quality of Zs that students do manage to catch.

The medical journal Depression and Anxiety announced in 2018 that 75 percent of college students reported significant life stresses within the last year, which is considerably higher than the stress levels of previous decades. According to the Journal of Adolescent Health, about 68 percent of students said that they were kept awake at night by anxieties about school and life. Stress causes the autonomic nervous system to produce hormones like adrenaline and cortisol that fire up the fight-or-flight response. This can prevent students from entering REM sleep, or even sleeping at all.

College students are also one of the demographic groups most likely to pull all-nighters. According to the American Psychological Association, it can take up to three days to recover from the sleep debt incurred by staying up for a whole night. Sleep debt is a term for the effects of sleep deprivation over time, and it can translate into daytime sleepiness, poor concentration and memory, and an increase in mental problems like depression and anxiety. Therefore, students who pull all-nighters are both damaging their current level of sleep and increasing the chance of poor sleep later on.

Individual students can make important choices about their health. The short list of beneficial behaviors includes reducing caffeine intake, turning off screens before bed, practicing stress-reducing behaviors like meditation and exercise, and maintaining a regular sleep schedule. However, the whole campus community needs to be part of the effort to improve student sleep health.

Improving sleep comes with a host of benefits for the wider community. Professors who want student engagement and success can earn it. The admissions office can gain a better graduation and retention rate. Students will have better physical and mental health, thereby reducing the demand on Student Health Services and Counseling and Psychological Services.

We can’t pin the blame for student sleep deprivation on students alone. Instead, professors and faculty need to be aware of the myriad demands upon students’ time. Likewise, student employers need to be cognizant of student responsibilities and pressures.

A step forward could be an online scheduling system where professors and employers could observe student work hours and other class obligations in order to reduce the stress on students. Professors could work with each other to coordinate exams or papers, and employers could help reduce student work hours and stress during periods of high scholastic stress.

Expressions like “sleep is for the weak” and “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” perpetuate the harmful perspectives surrounding sleep in the college community. It’s time to speak up for a good night’s sleep.