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Clay Campbell

Prof. Richardson

English 1201

23 March 2019

You Need More Sleep!

Nightime comes, it’s time for bed but you’re still wide awake. You have no interest in

going to bed and you stay up for a few more hours. You don’t think anything of it at the time,

but the next morning you are exhausted. You go through the entire day performing at a much

lower standard than what you are capable of. Still, you go into the night wide awake again and

don’t get much sleep. Thousands if not millions of people in the world today try to function on

just a few hours of sleep. It seems some people don’t know the risks that come from sleep

deprivation. People need to sleep for at least 7 hours a night because it lowers your risk of

developing sleep related disorders, it allows your body to recover from the long day, and it

improves your overall mood and well-being.

One thing is for certain, humans have to sleep at some point. There is no possible way

that a person can live their life without ever going to sleep at all. However some people feel as

though they can’t possibly get to bed at a decent hour. There can be various different things

distracting you or hindering your ability to sleep, but the truth is anyone can achieve a full night's

rest and wake up feeling refreshed and ready to go. For some people, knowing the health risks

that are associated with prolonged periods of sleeplessness can be all it takes for them to shut it

down a little earlier. Others may need to experience a side effects before they even think about

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taking initiative. Nevertheless, sleeping for less than 6 hours a night is tied to certain side effects

such as hardening of the arteries and heart disease (Bakalar). In an experiment, researchers used

accelerometers attached to the waists of 3,974 healthy men and women around the age of 46.

They monitored not only the duration of sleep, but the quality of sleep as well. All the test

subjects went through physical exams and three-dimensional ultrasounds to evaluate the blood

flow through the blood vessels in their bodies. It was concluded that in comparison to people

who slept for around seven to eight hours each night, those who slept for less than six hours were

about 27 percent more likely to be in the highest one-third for the amount of plaque in their

arteries. (Bakalar).

In a different study, similar results were found. A national US sample of adults aged 62-

90 concluded that there was a high prevalence of poor health for individuals who slept for six

hours or less each night, compared to individuals who achieved seven or more hours

(Lauderdale). Though the sample included people from the older generations, the results still

showed that people who got more sleep were simply healthier than those who got six hours of

sleep or less. The results shown in this experiment correlate to the experiment done with men

and women around the age of 46. This is evidence that proves that no matter what age you are,

sleep deprivation still has an effect on your body.

Blood flow and the amount of sleep someone gets each night seem to have a direct

correlation. Those who sleep less tend to have more problems and be less healthy than those

who sleep more. Many side effects related to the heart and blood flow come from not receiving

enough sleep. These side effects can also come from sleeping poorly. If you’re the type of

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person that wakes up every hour or so, you may need to look into that and figure out what is

causing you to awake. Whether it be the need to use the restroom at night, temperature swings,

or just being uncomfortable. There are many ways that people can eliminate the problems with

sleepless nights. For instance, turning off your phone or other electronic devices ensures a better

chance that you will be able to fall asleep at a decent hour each night. The light from your

phone, combined with the effects of browsing through social media can stimulate your brain and

cause your mind to race when trying to fall asleep at night.

People who play sports or work at a job that is physically demanding are encouraged

even more to get the right amount of sleep each night. When you are asleep, it gives your body a

chance to rest and recover to prepare for the next day. When you don’t get enough sleep, it

lowers your alertness and memory and can even lead to injuries because you aren’t recovering

enough (Spine Team). It’s hard to perform at your highest ability when you aren’t getting the

required amount of rest that your body needs each night. Generally, you should get at the

minimum seven hours. However published in a recent journal about sleep and health it was

concluded that newborns need around 14-17 hours. Children in preschool required around 10-13

hours. School-age children should sleep around 9-11 hours. Teenagers should get about 8-10

hours. Adults need 7-9 hours and older adults could use 7-8 hours of sleep (Spine Team). These

numbers show that as you get older, the general requirement for hours of sleep gets lower. These

numbers can also fluctuate depending on the health of the individual. For example, an adult who

is ill and has something like the flu, may need to get an extra hour or two each night for their

body to recover more.

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 Some people believe that they function better on little to no sleep. But in reality nobody

can actually perform better. There are some people out there however, that actually cannot sleep

at night. In a documentary shown in 2018, a little girl named Jessica is shown acting unusual

and uttering strange words and sounds at night. The documentary was titled “Can’t Sleep Kid”,

and the title defininently suites the video because Jessica acts completely out of the ordinary at

night in ways that some doctors have no explanation for. She acts out weird things in bed, as if

she’s acting out her dreams (Renate). This would be an example of someone who actually can’t

sleep at night. For most of us though, it’s just a matter of going to bed on time.

With growing cases of anxiety and depression in the world along with growing cases of

sleep deprivation, it may be time to ask the question of whether or not these problems are

connected. According to Deborah Weatherspoon, PhD, anything less than seven to nine hours of

sleep a night does more than make you feel drowsy. Weakened memory, concentration troubles,

weight gain, and poor balance are just a few extra side effects that come with poor sleep habits.

All the different systems in your body such as the endocrine, cardiovascular, digestive,

respiratory, and immune all take a drastic hit when you don’t sleep enough (Weatherspoon).

Sleep can also change your overall mood. Poor sleep habits can cause immense amounts

of stress for someone. If poor sleep continues over time, then that can increase your risk of

anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders (Sleep and Mood). Difficulty sleeping is often

sometimes the first symptom of depression in people. Studies have shown that around 15 to 20

percent of people that have been diagnosed with insomnia will develop major depression at some

point in their lifetime. In another study with adults, over 10,000 people were studied and they

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concluded that people with sleep insomnia were five times more likely to develop depression

(Sleep and Mood). In the world we live in today, it seems like these cases have been popping up

a lot recently. There has been an increase in the number of people who seem to be depressed

nowadays and maybe that could be tied into the amount of sleep those people are getting each

night. As sleep research continues to grow and explore many other areas, we may be able to

pinpoint more root causes related to sleep and mood disorders.

There are some causes where people want to get more sleep, but they simply cannot fall

asleep. There are a few tips and tricks that can help you at night to achieve the desired amount

of sleep that you want. Enjoying a nice warm bath can help calm your body down and relax.

Avoiding coffee and alcohol close to bedtime also works. These stimulate your brain and can

have you lying awake for hours. Another common reason people can’t sleep is because they eat

too close to bedtime. Finishing your meal two hours before your head hits the pillow is a good

idea if you don’t want to be tossing and turning all night long. Make sure you are comfortable so

that way you can allow your body to relax. A good pillow and mattress are essential to ensure

your get to sleep and awake feeling refreshed. If you are in an uncomfortable position all night

long, you may still being doing damage whether or not you get enough sleep at night. A lot of

hip and back problems as well as neck problems can come about if you aren’t in a decent enough

position. If you still can’t sleep, don’t lie awake all night looking at the clock. Try getting up

and reading a book or performing simple meditation routines that can help you relax and get to

sleep (Department of Health & Human Services).

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 There’s a lot of people out there that admit that they need to be sleeping more each night

yet they simply just don’t. Some people claim that they cannot get to bed earlier because of their

busy schedules. Work can get in the way for some people and leave them feeling exhausted in

the morning. In addition, working third shift or hours during the night can really mess with the

sleep schedule of a person and make it harder for them to fall asleep at a normal time. Think

about going to sleep at around the same time each and every night and then all of the sudden you

switch it up and end up going to sleep in the early morning. You have to change your whole life

around pretty much. For the younger generations, schoolwork can interfere with the ability for

some students to get a good night of rest. In fact, some students can be so sleep deprived that

they end up performing less than what they are capable of in school. Many students have to

balance schoolwork with sports or other extracurricular activities. And on top of that, a lot of

students nowadays are also working. With such a busy schedule, it is pretty much impossible to

be able to be in beed at a decent hour. That’s why there has been a greater push in recent years

to allow the starting time of schools to be later in the day. This would allow for students to get

enough sleep tonight and come to school the next day prepared to succeed. They would have

time to finish all of their schoolwork to the best of their ability, they would be able to concentrate

easier and not have a short attention span, they would be more alert and perform better in their

extracurricular activities and more. It can also be beneficial to add an extra day to the weekend

for students and only go to school 4 days a week. This gives kids an extra day of rest to regroup

and of course sleep. Some schools in Colorado have already begun this tactic. They’re doing

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this to cut costs so they aren’t just trying allow students to have an added resting day, but it

seems to be working in favor of the health of students.

Caffeine can be a huge factor in how alert or tired people feel. Most people get their

caffeine from the coffee they drink in the morning to help themselves wake up. However coffee

is not the best thing to be putting into your body on a regular basis. The best thing to do right

when you wake up in the morning is drink a glass of water. After numerous hours without food

or a drink, your body needs something to help it get going. That’s also why it is important to eat

breakfast in the morning. A lot of people feel as though if they just drink coffee in the morning,

then it doesn’t really matter how much sleep they get at night because they will be alert and

refreshed when morning comes around. This is obviously completely false. Just because the

caffeine is making you feel awake after you drink it, doesn’t mean your body is healthy and

working properly. That’s also why regular coffee drinkers tend to have multiple cups throughout

the day. They feel tired, they drink a cup of coffee. The cycle continues over and over yet they

don’t understand the full picture. Some people are addicted to caffeine and can’t go on without

it. They feel sluggish and get headaches if they go for a long period of time without it. These

side effects are similar to nicotine withdrawal. Too much caffeine before bed can also cause a

person to be awake for hours after their scheduled bedtime. In a perfect world, if everyone

completely cut coffee drinking out of their diet you would see the percentage of sleep deprived

people drop significantly.

There’s always a few people out there that believe they can just sleep for a few hours and

get away with it. They claim that they feel more awake when they don’t get a lot of sleep

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compared to when they do. The reality is that your body goes through different sleep stages in a

continuous cycle each night. Some stages are light sleep, some are deeper. If your alarm goes

off during one of the light stages of sleep, you may find it easier to wake up and you think you

feel better at first. However as the day goes on, you will start to feel drowsier and less alert than

you would’ve if you had more sleep. Also, it may be hard to wake up after getting 10 or even

more hours of sleep. This is also because of the sleep cycle. Eventually, you will end up feeling

way better than you would have if you got 6 or so hours of sleep.

Diseases, poor recovery, and issues with mood are three things that nobody wants in their

life. All of which are tied to not receiving enough sleep. The fact of the matter is that sleep

plays a huge role in our overall health. Sleep can dictate whether or not you’re going to have a

good or a bad day. Getting to bed just a little earlier each night can have a huge impact on your

life. A lot of health problems can arise for prolonged periods of sleepless nights. You could

possibly die if you aren’t able to sleep long enough each night. If you don’t get enough sleep

now, it’s important that you change your sleep habits immediately. Because if you don’t, it may

become too late to reverse it.

Works Cited

Bakalar, Nicholas. “Sleeping Less Than 6 Hours a Night Tied to Heart Disease.” The

New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2019,

www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/well/mind/sleeping-less-than-6-hours-a-night-tied-to-heart-diseas

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e.html?rref=collection/spotlightcollection/well-

sleep&action=click&contentCollection=mind®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=lates

t&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=collection.

Department of Health & Human Services. “Mood and Sleep.” Better Health Channel,

Department of Health & Human Services, 5 Apr. 2017,

www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/Mood-and-sleep.

Lauderdale, D S, et al. “Sleep Duration and Health among Older Adults: Associations

Vary by How Sleep Is Measured.” Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports., U.S. National

Library of Medicine, Apr. 2016, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26530811.

Renate, et al. Top Documentary Films, 5 Jan. 2018, topdocumentaryfilms.com/cant-

sleep-kid/.

“Sleep and Mood.” Benefits of Sleep | Healthy Sleep, healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/need-

sleep/whats-in-it-for-you/mood.

Team, Spine. “What Happens to Your Body When You Don't Get Enough Sleep.” Health

Essentials from Cleveland Clinic, Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic, 18 Dec. 2018,

health.clevelandclinic.org/happens-body-dont-get-enough-sleep/.

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 Weatherspoon, Deborah. “11 Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Your Body.” Healthline,

Healthline Media, www.healthline.com/health/sleep-deprivation/effects-on-body#1.