Lack of sleep can have an adverse effect on your mental health and well-being
It is that unfortunate time of year again when the semester is coming to an end and dreaded exams are looming. Finishing up projects, essays, and presentations while trying to balance our social lives and finding time to eat in between can be exhausting. Often what suffers the most through this time is getting a good night’s rest.
We continue working and studying later than we might have originally considered, often pulling all-nighters if necessary. This can be caused by a fear of failing—forcing us to look over every inch of essays and presentations and making sure we worked as hard as we could—or it could be caused by procrastination and poor time management while trying to balance classes.
However, this is a dangerous habit to fall into and considering how close we are to exams, it is recommended to everyone to try and figure out a balanced sleep schedule. Lack of sleep can cause serious damage to your mental well-being. Here are some examples:
Lower stress threshold
Normal, mundane activities, such as grocery shopping, walking the dog, or walking home can feel overwhelming and our tolerance for little things is diminished.
Impaired memory
Deep rapid eye movement (REM) sleep helps us form memories. Students who consider pulling an all-nighter will likely not be able to retain all the information they studied that night when it comes time for the exam.
Trouble concentrating
It’s hard to stay alert and focused during the day due to lack of sleep. If surgeons and pilots shouldn’t operate on limited sleep, what makes us think we can?
Decreased optimism and social skills
It takes a lot to stay upbeat when it comes to studying, but loss of sleep causes our ability to stay optimistic to take a nosedive. In turn, that can make being social and patient around those we care about more difficult since we’re more likely to snap at them in frustration.
Whatever it is that is keeping you from that full night of rest, it is important to remember that sleep is often not a sacrifice worth making.
Here’s a useful trick for those who want to sleep better. Many students rely on technology for school as well as for entertainment; be it binge-watching Netflix, scrolling through Facebook on your phone, or even studying on a laptop. Using electronics before bed, however, should be avoided if possible. This is because the light from our LED screens can slow or even stop the production of melatonin, a hormone that signals our brain that it’s time for us to sleep. So set an alarm for 30 minutes before you plan on going to bed and wind down with a cup of tea (no caffeine), water, and a good book or comic.
Photo courtesy of Penny Dugmore CC by nc 2.0.