Sleep Hygiene

Sleep Hygiene: When people hear the word hygiene, they think of areas such as showering or brushing your teeth. Most people do not think about sleep and often forget that sleep is a huge area of hygiene. Without enough sleep, sleep deprivation can set in and attack the body, both mentally and physically.

             Physically, sleep deprivation can throw off circadian rhythms, which result in deregulated sleep patterns, and deregulate metabolic, endocrine, and immune responses. It can also cause issues such as, but not limited to weight gain, insulin resistance, and hypertension.

            On a mental level, sleep deprivation can lead to behaviors that included increased drug and alcohol use, increases sexual behavior, and overuse of drugs that counteract drowsiness. Excessive sleepiness throughout the day also makes an individual vulnerable to injury and death because of a delay of responses. Inadequate sleep can also lead to poor productivity, decreased learning ability, and negative mood states. This in turn leads to family and peer conflict, impulsivity, and loss of other behavioral control.

            The average adolescent requires 8.5-9.25 hours of sleep with thirteen year olds requiring around 10 hours of sleep and 19 year olds requiring 8.5 hours of sleep. Research has shown that 26% of adolescent receive 6.5 hours of sleep or less on school nights. Technology has begun to play a huge role in this. Many adolescents have their phone next to their bed and use it within an hour of sleep. This actually interferes with the ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. 40% of adolescents also reported that they have been awoken to texts or phone calls in the middle of the night, which predicts lower sleep quality and increases depressive/anxious symptomology.

            This all combined show how important it is for adolescents, and even adults, to be receiving the sleep they need. Without the proper sleep, one is susceptible to conflict and issues, both mentally and physically. All of this could be avoided with the proper amount of sleep. 

All information found at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...

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