We don't talk about sleep enough
Exploring the importance of rest for the health and well-being of college students.
The lack of sleep education
How knowledgable are you on the topic of sleep? Could you take me through the complexities of a sleep cycle? When I look back on my experiences in middle and high school science class, I remember delving into a wide array of topics concerning the human body. We covered everything from the circulatory system to DNA replication to the components of the cell, but never sleep. Considering that the average person spends about a third of their life asleep, it's surprising that there isn't a dedicated unit or test on the subject. This trend persists even into higher education, where the significance of sleep has been historically overlooked. I spoke with Dr. Billy Eden, a Fort Worth doctor of sleep medicine. “We just completely ignored sleep forever," said Dr. Eden. "I went all the way through medical school and never even heard the word mentioned.” It wasn't until later in Dr. Eden's medical career that sleep fellowships became more common, and he went back to school to become a doctor of sleep medicine.
“The thing about sleep that people need to be educated on is the importance of it long-term for your health. I would definitely say in high school, there should be some education about it.”
I also spoke with Meredith Goldberg, a senior TCU business major, who admits that she doesn't have a healthy relationship with sleep. She believes sleep education could have prevented that. “I think it’s really concerning that we don’t learn about sleep in school. Maybe if I had been taught about the impacts of sleep deprivation on your body and overall health, that would’ve scared me into getting on a better sleep regimen," said Goldberg. "I’m pretty sure sleep deprivation can lead to serious health problems, but I never had to learn those hard statistics."
Goldberg is correct. Sleep impacts just about every aspect of health. Sleep deprivation leads to health issues, often involving the metabolic system, mental health, and heart health in the long term, and memory and cognitive skills, like driving, in the short term.
“Driving when I am sleep deprived is scary," said Goldberg. "When I would pull all-nighters in high school, my parents wouldn’t let me drive because they knew that my cognitive function was down.”
What makes us tired?
According to Dr. Eden, there are two driving forces for falling asleep: the bodies circadian rhythm and the time it has been since you last slept. Circadian rhythm refers to the natural fluctuation of our body temperature throughout the day. "An hour before your usual wake up time, your body temperature starts to slowly rise," said Dr. Eden. "As it rises, it awakens you and continues to rise for the next several hours. It reaches a peak in the early afternoon and early evening." Between those two peaks, body temperature dips. This is usually the time when people are prone to take naps. "It increases again until seven or eight o’clock, then starts dropping until you fall asleep," said Dr. Eden. As our body temperature's drop, we get more tired. The other factor in falling asleep is the amount of time it has been since we last slept. "If you are on a schedule that is fairly standard, your body will start secreting melatonin about two hours before your usual bedtime," said Dr. Eden. "The amount of it produced increases progressively until sleep time."
According to Dr. Eden, If you consistently hit the snooze button and could sleep a few extra hours if you were to turn off your alarm, you’re not getting enough sleep. Photo by Mpho Mojapelo on Unsplash
According to Dr. Eden, If you consistently hit the snooze button and could sleep a few extra hours if you were to turn off your alarm, you’re not getting enough sleep. Photo by Mpho Mojapelo on Unsplash
Sleep Cycles
Source: Dr. Billy Eden M.D.
“The alertness that you have when you wake up is related to what stage of sleep you awaken from. If you awaken during REM sleep, you’ll be reasonably alert. On the other hand, if someone wakes you up from stage 3 sleep, you will have sleep drunkenness. We’ve all been there when you wake up and can’t remember what day it is.”
Stage One
Stage one is light sleep, and usually only lasts for a few minutes. It is easy to wake someone during this stage. The brain and body have not fully relaxed, but activities start to slow. Sounds and touch will easily wake someone in this stage. About 2-5% of sleep occurs in stage one.
Stage Two
Stage two is moderate sleep. This is the first stage of sleep where your brain is cut off from the world. Brain activity slows and your internal temperature drops in this stage. About 50% of sleep occurs in stage two.
Stage Three
Stage three is deep sleep, also known as slow-wave sleep. It usually lasts for 20 to 40 minutes. It is hardest to wake someone out of this phase. This is the stage where most body recovery and growth occurs. About 10 to 20% of sleep occurs in stage three.
REM
REM (rapid eye movement) sleep occurs approximately every 90 minutes. During REM sleep, brain activity picks up. This is the stage of sleep where vivid dreams are most common. About 25% of sleep occurs in REM.
Dr. Eden's healthy sleep advice for college students
“If you're lying in bed thinking about the world and can’t fall asleep, go into another room and make a list of whatever is worrying you, or read a book until you feel like you’re tired enough to fall asleep.”
Many college students find it difficult to balance a healthy sleep schedule with their social and academic agendas. “I have class at 8am multiple days of the week, which would mean I need to be asleep by 10 or 11pm to get eight hours," said Goldberg. "That feels unrealistic while being in college and having social plans as well as homework." Although students in college should strive to get eight hours of sleep, Dr. Eden says he knows this is not always possible. He says that if students can manage to get six hours of sleep, it is much less likely that their cognitive function will be negatively impacted. “It does encourage me, because six hours is attainable," said Goldberg. "I think I look at that eight hour goal and think that it is so unattainable."
When it comes to his patients that deal with insomnia, Dr. Eden finds that it usually boils down to one of two main issues. “Absence of sleep hygiene, in which people do not have a healthy sleep schedule or do not have the correct environment, and hyperarousal usually caused by an underlying anxiety of some sort are the two main causes of insomnia,” said Dr. Eden. If students are really having trouble, over the counter medications like melatonin and sedative antihistamines can be helpful, but Dr. Eden suggests starting with the smallest dose possible. "The amount of melatonin your body secretes comes in very small amounts, but it comes in larger amounts over the counter," said Dr. Eden. "Don’t take more than 10 milligrams. I would say start with three or five." Dr. Eden said that in larger doses, melatonin can cause depression, confusion and overly vivid dreams or nightmares.
Dr. Eden talks about caffeine
A can of Celsius energy drink is shown on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
A can of Celsius energy drink is shown on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
89.2 percent of people say they use a screen for most or all nights before bed according to sleepopolis. (Photo: Business Wire)
89.2 percent of people say they use a screen for most or all nights before bed according to sleepopolis. (Photo: Business Wire)
The sleep habits of students at TCU
How much sleep do you get on an average weeknight?
“Normal sleep is between seven and eight hours. As far as sleep deprivation goes, consistently getting less than six hours is when cognitive function begins to go down. There’s a big line below six hours," says Dr. Eden. "If you are consistently getting less than six hours of sleep, there’s gonna be a detrimental effect on performance and memory.”
For how long do you use technology before bed?
"Turn off electronics before bed," said Dr. Eden. "Studies indicate that blue light emissions and the electromagnetic energy from our phones may interfere with sleep.”
According to sleep doctor, Technology can affect melatonin production and circadian rhythms.
How many days a week do you drink caffeine?
“The half life of caffeine is basically around four hours. A cup of coffee is around 200 mg, so about half of it is gone in three to four hours. It slowly metabolizes, and then most of it is completely gone in eight to ten hours," said Dr. Eden. “I think some of these energy drinks and espresso drinks can hang around for 12 to 14 hours.”
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