Richard Britton
English 1000
24 November 2014
College: Getting Degrees and Losing Zzzs
From a very young age, people have been taught by doctors and scientists alike
that they should get seven to eight hours of deep sleep per night in order to function
normally throughout the day. Unfortunately, a lot of college students in the United States
do not get nearly that amount of sleep in an average night and suffer from some form of
sleep disturbance, and more specifically, sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation in U.S. high
school and college students has become a significant issue in today’s world, and it
negatively impacts both their academic performance and everyday lives in general.
Sleep deprivation, either chronic or acute, is most easily defined as the state of not
having enough sleep. Most students suffer from an acute form, but if experienced over a
long period of time, it can be damaging to a student’s health, mental well-being, and
academic performance. A study published earlier this year in Nature and Science of Sleep
reveals how much of a problem sleep deprivation is for students. About 50% of college
students experience daytime sleepiness, which is defined as “the inability or difficulty in
maintaining alertness during the major wake period of the day, resulting in unintended
lapses into drowsiness or sleep” (Hershner and Chervin 1). The study goes on to note that
70.6% of college students obtain less than the recommended eight of hours of sleep and
the average amount obtained sits around 5.7 hours nightly (2). A few hours of missed
sleep here and there may not seem like a big deal, but according to the study, 82% of
college students feel that lack of sleep effects their school performance and consider it to
have a negative impact on their academic success (2). When considering the amount of
sleep college students should get compared to how much they actually get, the difference
is concerning, especially when such strong correlations exist between scholastic failure
and inadequate nightly sleep.
While any given person is more than likely to have experienced daytime
sleepiness in their lives, sleep deprivation can have significant impacts on the adolescent
brain during the developing period. This can lead to severe health problems later in life.
A study conducted in Canada by psychologist Reut Gruber looked at how sleep
deprivation affected children in age groups ranging from infancy to late adolescence.
Gruber states in her study that sleep deprivation occurs more often in all developmental
stages than is commonly thought, and it can have serious developmental consequences
(63). According to Gruber, it is pertinent to teach children regular sleep behaviors during
their school-age years because during these years the brain is training its neural systems
to begin the governing of self-regulation. Failure to develop a healthy sleeping pattern
means it is very likely for a child to have long lasting, erratic sleep habits in their
adolescence, after the maturation period of puberty occurs (67). Additional research has
been done to show that sleep deprivation can have negative impacts on cognitive skills
and processes like memory, learning, and daytime attentiveness. An inadequate amount
of sleep can greatly reduce a student’s memory capacity as brain mapping has shown that
the neural networks associated with memory “reactivate” themselves during sleep, this
means that while a person is sleeping, their memory neurons are repairing themselves and
preparing for a new day. Also, sleep deprivation has been proven to have a negative
impact on a student’s neurobehavioral functions, including paying attention, problem
solving, and alertness (63).
In order to fully understand the possibly harmful effects of sleep deprivation on
college students, one must understand the causes. Based on the personal interviews of
college students that I have conducted, I have determined three main stressors in an
average college student’s life that are possible causes of sleep deprivation. The first, and
possibly the most impactful, cause comes from working a paid job coupled with
overwhelming academic pressures such as homework and extracurricular activities. One
college student and sufferer of sleep deprivation named Hannah that I interviewed said
that on days she had both work and school, she was extremely tired throughout the day
and usually had to take a nap between the two just to be able to function in class. “It also
affects my relationships with other people and makes me cranky” said Hannah when I
asked her how her sleep deprivation affected her daily life. For example, she does not like
to socialize as much when sleep deprived and she tends to treat those she does socialize
with in a harsh and mean manner (Dean). Schoolwork seems to be the most prevalent
cause or sleep deprivation in the students I interviewed, and while students are sacrificing
sleep to boost their GPA, the long-term effects could be harmful.
Another noticeable contributor to the interviewees’ sleep deprivation is the social
stresses that a typical college student is likely to encounter. For example, living in close
proximity with other students, the demand to feel included in a social group, and finding
a balance between personal relationships and schoolwork. One interviewee, Carrie, noted
that on nights when she had every intention of going to sleep early, her dorm neighbors
often keep her awake well into the night. “I’m tired more often, so I’m less likely to
socialize. I will sometimes skip dinner with my friends because I’m too tired and end up
going later by myself” (Storch). She also noticed that she was less likely to socialize on
days when she was sleep deprived to due an increase in self-consciousness and tendency
to ramble or form incoherent sentences.
Lastly, I found that technology also plays a role in a college student’s nightly
amount of sleep, especially considering that the current generation of college students has
grown up with technology being easily accessible. With entertainment outlets like Netflix,
Facebook, Tumblr, and numerous other social media sites being readily available, many
college students are too distracted by their phone screens to go to sleep at a reasonable
time. An interviewee named Jaycie said that along with schoolwork, technology is the
main cause of her sleep deprivation. She mentioned that she often does not sleep until
two or three o’clock in the morning because she “can’t put her phone down” (Loud). Out
of all of my interviewees, she experienced the worst case of sleep deprivation and said
that her severe lack of sleep often gives her headaches and a limited amount of energy
during the day. While these stressors are certainly not true for every sleep deprived
college student, they certainly help one understand why so many students experience
sleep deprivation.
While most effects of sleep deprivation are relatively short-term, it is possible for
inadequate sleep repeated over a long period of time to have lasting psychological
implications. Grogginess throughout the day is a minor consequence when considering
that sleep deprivation has been linked with an increased risk for drug/alcohol abuse,
anxiety, and depression. A study released in 2009 stated “adults aged 18-44 those who
reported sleeping less than six hours per night were more likely to smoke and to have five
or more drinks of alcohol in one day” (Vail-Smith. et al.). Some may consider these
findings a “stretch” but one would be uninformed to deny there is not a correlation
between the two. Furthermore, a separate study published in 2013 reported that college
students suffering from insomnia have twice the amount of risk of developing depression
or depression-like symptoms than students without a sleep disorder (Nyer et al. 874).
The study also mentions that while the relationship between sleep deprivation and
depression should be interpreted on a case-by-case basis, the two are very strongly linked
and one can usually predict the other (875).
Some of the aforementioned effects of sleep deprivation may vary from student to
student, though it is hard to deny that college students across the nation are suffering
from it in some form. With the greater amount of stress put on college students to
succeed in the modern world, students are pushing themselves harder than any previous
generation in terms of academia, and are usually sacrificing sleep to maintain a high
GPA. They will stay up late to finish assignments, wake up early and sleep deprived for
class, usually nap during the day, and stay up later to counteract the nap, then follow the
same pattern the next day. This is a dangerous cycle that students fall into rather
frequently and can be very difficult to break. Sleep deprivation poses a significant risk to
academic success. College students rely heavily on their working and long-term memory
to acquire new knowledge and preform well in school and according to neuroscientists,
Pedr Fulke and Sior Vaughn, when sleep deprivation occurs prior to learning, a new
memory is less likely to be acquired (Fulke and Vaughan 228). Also, studies show that
27% of students may suffer from at least one sleep disorder, which puts them at a higher
risk for academic failure (Hershner and Chervin 6).
While scientists and doctors may never be able to definitively declare a student’s
sleep deprivation as a cause for illness or depression, a strong correlation will always
exist between lack of sleep and negative behaviors. Unfortunately, reversing sleep
deprivation entirely can be extremely difficult, although it can be managed and
eventually controlled. It is apparent that sleep deprivation is a prevalent issue faced by
many college students today and with increasing awareness of its harmful effects
hopefully it will one day disappear completely from U.S. college students.
Works Cited
Dean, Hannah. Personal interview. 22 November 2014.
Fulke, Pedr and Vaughan, Sior. “Neuroscience Research Progress: Sleep Deprivation:
Causes, Effects and Treatment.” Nova Science Publishers Inc. (2009): 228.
ProQuest. Web. 22 November 2014.
Gruber, Reut. “Making Room for Sleep: The Relevance of Sleep to Psychology and the
Rationale for Development of Preventative Sleep Education Programs
for Children and Adolescents in the Community” Canadian Psychology (2013):
62-71. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
Hershner, Shelley D. and Ronald D. Chervin. "Causes And Consequences of Sleepiness
Among College Students." Nature & Science Of Sleep (2014): 73-84. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
Loud, Jaycie. Personal interview. 22 November 2014.
Nyer, Maren, et al. "Relationship Between Sleep Disturbance And Depression, Anxiety,
and Functioning in College Students." Depression & Anxiety (1091-4269) 30.9
(2013): 873-880. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
Storch, Carrie. Personal interview. 22 November 2014.
Vail-Smith, Karen, W. Michael Felts, and Craig Becker. "Relationship Between Sleep
Quality and Health Risk Behaviors in Undergraduate College Students." College
Student Journal 43.3 (2009): 924-930. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Nov.
2014.