Bear in Mind - Sleep Deprivation
Do you have any idea what you are doing to yourselves?!
Periodically, I will ask for suggestions for Bear in Mind to find out what students might be interested in reading. It’s my understanding that many of you are dealing with sleep deprivation due to upcoming papers, exams, projects, and of course, the constant stream of parties. So…this month’s Bear in Mind will talk about how sleep deprivation affects you.
First, let’s talk about sleep deprivation and what it does to you.
Basically, it turns your late teen/early 20’s body into that of a 60 year old! Read that sentence again. S-I-X-T-Y YEAR OLD! After only a week of sleep deprivation, there is a rapid deterioration of your body’s functions. Your organs react to their environment and will react accordingly to the additional stress. Your mind slows down, your body begins to ache, and bodily functions are, well, not the greatest.
Also, getting behind the wheel with sleep deprivation is the equivalent of a person who is legally intoxicated (0.08 blood alcohol level). There are an estimated 200,000 accidents a year involving someone falling asleep while driving.
Unhealthy Coping
Generally, people choose coffee as their “drug of choice” when pulling all-nighters and that’s okay…in moderation. What’s concerning is people using caffeine pills. These have higher levels of caffeine than coffee and are easier to overuse. Some of the side effects for overusing include:
This is just a short list of symptoms for caffeine overuse. What’s interesting is that these pills do not improve your performance. It may keep you awake and make you feel alert, but a later check could reveal errors in thinking (much like people who are drunk and believe they are profoundly superior in their abilities). In addition, caffeine pills give you a “high” for a while, but you will eventually crash. What people do to offset this is take more pills. This is extremely dangerous and not all that difficult to overdose. It’s not worth jeopardizing your body
What to do instead…
Well, the obvious is to not procrastinate and therefore not put yourself in the situation of having to stay up all night studying/writing/reading. But no one seems to listen when I suggest doing things ahead of time, so here are some alternatives. When trying to stay up to study, do some physical activity for a few minutes…run the stairs, do jumping jacks, anything for a few minutes. Or try sleeping for a few hours and get up early to study some more. Bear in mind J, the last one is not really advisable being that most people end up turning off the alarm and rolling over…or worse, sleeping through the alarm. However, both of these are better than taking caffeine pills.
What this boils down to is take care of your body. Do the things it needs for you to do and if that’s sleep, then sleep. You can get everything done and still get your sleep, but you have to plan ahead (I know, crazy concept).
As always, call me if you need me.
And never, ever listen to an alligator that says, “oh, come on! I just want a hug”. J