Sleep

Sleep

Hope Callaghan, Staff Reporter

Floating sluggishly toward your bed, giddy to shut those sleepy eyes after hours of school and homework. Finally flopping onto the soft comforter, you drift into a dream, the same dream that you have been hoping for since your cruel alarm clock shook you awake this morning. Sleep is well known as our peaceful break from reality where the world around us disappears and our minds prepare us for tomorrow’s adventures, but it does more than just that.

The recommended amount of sleep for teenagers is 8-10 hours each night but most students find it hard to stick to that schedule, especially with homework and stress. Making sure your sleep schedule stays between 8-10 hours is very important because it stabilizes your body weight and keeps your appetite, metabolism, and immune system healthy. Even more importantly, sleep sweeps any harmful plaques away and reconstructs any muscles that may have been damaged during the day. So without sleep, our bodies have a hard time staying healthy and our minds have an even harder time making good decisions and thinking rationally.

Kenzie Caswell agrees that the consequences of loosing sleep are great.

“Not getting enough sleep is so bad for your health, speaking from experience, but it’s there’s definitely too many repercussions for not sleeping that it’s not worth it to give it up,” Senior Kenzie Caswell said.

Sequoia nurse Michelle Murray spoke about the problems caused by sleep deprivation. She explains that if a person goes a long time without sleep, it can lead to difficulties with learning and being the healthiest version of ourselves. She also spoke about the effects of sleep-deprivation that hurt more than just the people around us.

“If a person is sleep-deprived, they can actually be considered insane,” Murray said.  “It affects the brain to that level where your response time is slower. You’re learning is definitely hampered. Everything is like looking through a fog. And it can, it can make people touchy as far as their mood so they can be irritable and not their best self. They might experience pain or small degrees of sickness might seem to them like a really big deal because their body isn’t operating at optimum levels, basically, and over time, it can lead to depression.”

Donnelly explains that her sleep life is normal and healthy and since she finished her homework already, she can sleep stress-free.

“I just always do my homework right when I get home, so it’s kind of easy to fall asleep,” Donnelly said.

Sleep may not seem all that important, but it is one of the best ways to keep your mind and body healthy. Students are very susceptible to the dangers of sleep deprivation because of sports, homework, stress, etc., but there are many ways to get a good night even with all of these things. Shut off screens one hour before bed, finish homework before any other activities, making sure your room is quiet and dark before bed, and avoiding naps, caffeine, and eating or drinking a lot right before bed; this way, you can spend the night peacefully asleep.