Why teenagers aren’t getting enough sleep, and how it matters
In today’s fast-paced, technology-based world, sleep has become severely impacted throughout the world. The age group that was impacted the most by this are teenagers. While adults complain about burnout, teenagers are quietly going through extreme sleep deprivation. Although there is the common stereotype of a lazy teen who does nothing but laze around all day, science tells another story. Even though teenagers need sleep more than adults, they tend to get a lot less of it. The consequences of this can be very harmful.
The Science Behind Teen Sleep
During adolescence the body goes through many hormonal shifts that change the body's natural sleep cycle. The body’s natural sleep cycle is called the Circadian Rhythm. It’s your body's natural 24 hour clock. This rhythm affects many other systems throughout your body and how well you function. The body’s sleep cycle goes through four different stages, NREM 1, NREM2, NREM3, and REM. In the stages is the deep sleep that the body desires when exhausted. Teenagers constantly interrupt that deep sleep and it results in worse and worse sleep.
The National Sleep Foundation’s recommendation for hours of sleep for adolescents is 9-11 hours for 6-13 year-olds, 8-10 hours for 14-17 year-olds, and 7-9 hours for 18-25 year-olds. The quality of sleep also is a big factor when it comes to getting the most optimal sleep. But what does sleep do for you?
The Digital Trap: How Screens Disrupt Sleep
One of the culprits in teen sleep deprivation is technology. All forms of screen project blue light. What is blue light? Blue light is electromagnetic energy that travels in waves. The wavelength of blue light is short but has high intense energy that is nearly as harmful as UV rays. Blue light interferes with melatonin production which leads to disrupting the sleep cycle and the circadian rhythm. When teenagers use their phones, especially at night, blue light disrupts their sleep schedule. Furthermore, social media can at times be sources of stress and anxiety for teenagers, making it more difficult at night to wind down. Staying on screens causes the brain to stay stimulated far past bedtime.
Mental Health Consequences
Chronic sleep deprivation does just lead to grogginess and exhaustion, it has long lasting, serious effects on an individual's mental state. There has been extensive research that shows that people with insomnia are 10 times more likely to experience depression and 17 more times likely to have anxiety than the general population. Sleep apnea increases these risks by threefold. It is commonly known that a lack of sleep causes mood changes and grumpiness but it goes far deeper than people think. Sleep also causes high levels of stress that lead to an increase of all of these conditions. On top of all of that it also impacts your ability to think and operate clearly. Driving without sleep can be just as if not more dangerous than driving while fully intoxicated.
Physical Health Consequences
Sleep deprivation also causes a significant impact on your physical health as well. It causes an impact on multiple systems of your body. It causes many different hormonal imbalances that cause higher rates in obesity. The two main hormones leptin, and ghrelin are the ones that are impacted the most by sleep. Leptin tells your brain to eat enough and makes sure that your body is maintained properly. Without sleep it reduces the amount of Leptin and increases the amount of Ghrelin, an increase of Ghrelin causes an increase of an appetite. On top of that, a lack of sleep may lead to feeling too tired to workout or do physical activities. This will lead to higher rates of obesity.
Another system that is severely impacted is the cardiovascular system. Sleep plays a vital role in your body’s ability to heal and function. This means that people who don’t sleep enough will have a impaired cardiovascular system. One study even showed that patients with insomnia have a higher risk of a heart attack and stroke.
The benefits of sleep
Sleeping will benefit you mentally and physically, but what are those benefits? Better sleep will lead directly to better mood and better mental health. Studies show that sleeping better will lead to a decrease of mental distress which in turn will help your mood and your mental health.
Physically sleeping well does so many things. One major thing that your body does is repairing the muscles. When sleeping well your body builds muscle fibers, repairs tissue, and regenerates cells. This is partly driven by the human growth hormone (HGH), which is produced the most during sleep. Another thing that sleeping well helps with is your heart health. When getting a good night of sleep your heart slows down and your blood pressure decreases. Good sleep will reduce inflammation in the cardiac system.
Conclusion
Teenagers today are handling more and more stress, distractions, and responsibilities than ever. On top of all of that they are accomplishing this while sleep deprived. It isn’t a lifestyle issue, it is a public health problem. If we want our future to be bright, physically able, and academic and emotionally intelligent than treating sleep as a luxury instead of as a necessity must stop.
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