The Importance of Sleep

I know, I know, what a generic title. Everyone, including their mother, knows how important sleep is. Well…I wish. According to statistics, 72.7% of high school students (grades 9–12) in a national sample did not get enough sleep on school nights, and nearly 20% reported sleeping fewer than six hours a night. Sleep is not only essential to your mental and physical performance the next day; it can affect the function and development of your brain. So, let’s dig in.

THE ISSUE

Sleep deprivation puts teenagers into a kind of perpetual cloud or haze, explains Mary Carskadon, PhD, a professor of psychiatry at Brown University and director of chronobiology and sleep research at Bradley Hospital in Rhode Island. “One of the metaphors I use is that it’s like having an astigmatism. You don’t realize how bad your vision is until you get glasses or, in this case, good sleep.” That haze, Dr. Carskadon says, can negatively affect teenagers’ moods, ability to think, react, regulate their emotions, learn, and get along with adults.

Research by Dr. Carskadon and several others shows that sleep-deprived teens are far more likely to use stimulants like caffeine and nicotine to get through the day but also to deal with sleep-related negative moods by self-medicating with alcohol. They’re also more likely to engage in unprotected sex and reckless driving than teens who get upwards of 7 hours of sleep a night because they lack impulse control and suffer from impaired judgment that leads to poor decision-making.

It can even be deadly. According to a National Sleep Foundation Study, drowsiness or fatigue is the principal cause of at least 100,000 traffic accidents each year. One North Carolina state study found that 55% of all “fall-asleep” crashes were caused by drivers under the age of 25.

So maybe the reason for your irritability, wanting to snap at everyone, and making poor life decisions can be improved not by ignoring your parents, your obligations/opportunities, and your own desires but by sleeping more!

WHAT IS SLEEP?

According to John Hopkins, sleep expert M.D. Ph.D. Mark Wu, while you are asleep, your brain cycles repeatedly through two different types of sleep: REM (rapid-eye movement) sleep and non-REM sleep.

The first part of the cycle is non-REM sleep, which is composed of four stages. The first stage occurs between being awake and falling asleep. The second is light sleep when heart rate and breathing are regulated and body temperature drops. The third and fourth stages are deep sleep. Though REM sleep was previously believed to be the most important sleep phase for learning and memory, newer data suggests that non-REM sleep is more important for these tasks and is also the more restful and restorative phase of sleep.

As you cycle into REM sleep, the eyes move rapidly behind closed lids, and brain waves are similar to those during wakefulness. Breath rate increases, and the body becomes temporarily paralyzed as we dream.

The cycle then repeats itself, but with each cycle, you spend less time in the deeper stages three and four of sleep and more time in REM sleep. On a typical night, you’ll cycle through four or five times.

Your Body’s Built-In Sleep Controls

According to Wu, two main processes regulate sleep: circadian rhythms and sleep drive.

Circadian rhythms are controlled by a biological clock located in the brain. One key function of this clock is responding to light cues. It ramps up the production of the hormone melatonin at night and switches off when it senses light. People with total blindness often have trouble sleeping because they cannot detect and respond to these light cues.

Sleep drive also plays a key role: Your body craves sleep as it hungers for food. Your desire for sleep builds throughout the day, and you need to sleep when it reaches a certain point. A significant difference between sleep and hunger: Your body can’t force you to eat when you’re hungry, but when you’re tired, it can put you to sleep, even if you’re in a meeting or behind the wheel of a car.

HOW MUCH SLEEP DO YOU NEED?

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), up to 70% of U.S. adolescents regularly sleep less than eight hours [1]. This equates to approximately 42 million adolescents suffering from sleep deficiencies. The average amount of sleep teenagers get is between 7 and 7 ¼ hours. However, they need between 9 and 9 ½ hours (studies show that most teenagers need exactly 9 ¼ hours of sleep).

Teenagers do not get enough sleep for several reasons:

Shift in sleep schedule. After puberty, there is a biological shift in an adolescent’s internal clock of about 2 hours, meaning that a teenager who used to fall asleep at 9:00 PM will now not be able to fall asleep until 11:00 PM. It also means waking 2 hours later in the morning.
Early high school start times. In most school districts, the move to high school is accompanied by an earlier school start time. Some high schools start as early as 7:00 AM, meaning that some teenagers have to get up as early as 5:00 AM to get ready for and travel to school.
Social and school obligations. Homework, sports, after-school activities (often occurring during the evening), and socializing lead to late bedtimes.

Honestly, I can not remember ever waking up past 10 a.m. in my teen years! Not even in my 20s, unless I was partying the night before. Now, working with youth, I have realized that quite a lot of young people sleep until noon or even later and then stay up late. That can only mean that you DO NOT have responsibilities or actions planned to perform daily habits to win at life the next day. It's time to change that!

CREATING A HEALTHY SLEEP SCHEDULE

While individual circadian rhythms can vary—some of us are night owls, and others are early birds—there are general sleep recommendations that can benefit everyone. By following these guidelines, you can enhance your sleep quality and, consequently, your overall quality of life.

Establishing a consistent sleep schedule, creating a relaxing bedtime routine, and optimizing your sleep environment are foundational steps that apply universally. Even with our unique sleep patterns, adopting these practices can lead to better rest and a more refreshed, energized feeling each day, offering hope for a healthier and more productive life.

Recommendations:

Most clinicians and everyone we talked to emphasized the importance of turning off all electronic devices at least an hour before young people try to sleep. And it’s more than just excitement. Electronic screens emit a glow called “blue light” at a particular frequency that sends “a signal to the brain which suppresses the production of melatonin and keeps kids from feeling tired,” says Max Van Gilder, MD, a pediatrician in practice for 40 years. He suggests planning so that homework that needs to be done on a screen is completed by early evening and “off-screen” work is saved for later at night. That also means no “unwinding” on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube.
What’s more, social media is a great place to find new sources of anxiety. Good luck sleeping if you’ve just read something socially stressful from your best frenemy.
While there’s not much you can do about your school’s start time, Dr. Van Gilder says teens should organize their mornings so that they can sleep in “as long as is humanly possible.” Consider showering, picking out clothes, and packing up books before bed so you don’t have to spend time doing it in the morning. “Ask mom or dad to make you an egg sandwich to eat on the bus. Whatever it takes to squeeze in as much sleep as possible and arrive one minute before school starts.”
Don’t try to be ‘cool’. In recent years, there’s a trend where it’s seen as impressive to stay up as late as possible and function on minimal or no sleep. You know what’s even better? Sleeping and then accomplishing everything you want while ‘others’ brains are deteriorating from the lack of sleep they are getting.
Relax before bed – try a warm bath, reading, or another relaxing routine.
Have goals in life to motivate you to be at your best. I mentioned earlier that I had healthy sleeping patterns as a teenager because I had tennis practice nearly every day. It wasn’t even a question that I needed to rest to perform the next day. Whether that motivation comes from school, sports, arts, music, or science, or whether you want to feel refreshed and be nice to people, sleep matters!

CONCLUSION:

Sleep for your brain development, sleep for your mood, sleep to be a nice person, sleep to perform, sleep to feel energetic, sleep to study and achieve, sleep to live!

Nutrition is Life