At this point, my friends have heard me talk about the importance of sleep probably WAY too much. It is really, really important, but I don’t want to be annoying about it in case they sleep less just to spite me. So in an attempt to stop myself from spewing sleep facts at all hours of the day, I wrote this article. The next time I have the impulse to advise my friends to sleep more, I can just refer them to this piece and save everyone a lot of time. Also, if you're taking Sleep and Dreams at Stanford, you can probably just study this article and pass the class.

1. There’s this thing called Sleep Debt

That’s right, sleep debt. It’s the accumulated amount of sleep you “owe.” To put it more technically, your sleep debt is the amount of sleep that you actually get, subtracted from the amount of sleep you need. So if you need 8 hours of sleep and you get 7 hours for three nights, then you have an accumulated sleep debt of 3 hours. The only way to get rid of this debt is by sleeping more than the amount you need until you make up for it. But you can never really “make up for” your sleep loss – there are permanent effects of sleep debt that sometimes can’t be improved by catching up on sleep on the weekends. Also, you can’t “save up” sleep; best case scenario is that you have zero sleep debt. After a few days of having sleep debt, it takes a real toll – affecting attention, performance, and life expectancy.

For more info on sleep debt, check out this article:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2014/02/2...

2. Normal sleep is quiet sleep

Despite popular belief, snoring is not actually considered “normal.” Snoring is the sound made by an air passageway that is partially closed or possibly even collapsed. Obstructive sleep apnea is the sleep disorder in which the air passageway closes slightly during REM sleep paralysis, and the sleeper increases their efforts to breathe, which creates the snoring sound. Central sleep apnea is when the sleeper’s air passageway closes and they make no increased efforts to breathe (aka, they could suffocate and die if not woken up). Either version of sleep apnea allows less oxygen than needed to make it to the brain, which creates increased tiredness and disrupts sleep. Not to mention, snoring is annoying. Breathing aids such as the EPAP machine can help snorers have more regular breathing patterns.

3. Boredom doesn’t make you fall asleep

Another common sleep myth, but it’s just that – a myth. Boredom doesn’t cause people to fall asleep, sleep debt does. Think about it. When you were younger and you were bored, you didn’t just fall asleep. Here’s what’s really happening: when you’re inactive (say, sitting in class or watching a movie), your drive to sleep becomes more apparent since you wouldn’t fall asleep while moving around. The greater your sleep debt, the more likely you are to fall asleep while sitting still. I tried sleeping for 8 hours a night every night for several weeks, and after a while I no longer fell asleep in class.

4. A heavy lunch doesn’t make you fall sleep

Just like the myth busted above, a heavy lunch also doesn’t make you sleepier. Sleep debt does. When I told my parents that I kept falling asleep in class, they advised me to eat a lighter lunch beforehand. But the real trick (it might seem obvious) was to simply get more sleep. The reason people are more prone to fall asleep after lunch is because there’s a dip in this thing called Clock-Dependent Alerting. Human biological clocks (the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the brain) keep us more alert during certain times of the day than others. There happens to be a dip in this alerting after lunch, around 1-2pm. Therefore, our sleep debt becomes a greater threat around this time (after lunch, usually). Perfect time for a nap if you have sleep debt. Worst time to sit still in class if you have sleep debt.

5. Not getting enough sleep causes health problems (like Type 2 Diabetes)

This one surprised me the most – while watching the summary of a scientific study on 60 minutes, I learned that not getting enough sleep can actually cause Type 2 diabetes! In the study, participants were partially deprived of sleep for a week. They got 4 hours of sleep per night, and by the end of the week, their bodies began to lose the ability to metabolize sugar. The participants were pre-diabetic! The same effects were seen for a participant who was roused into lighter sleep by a loud noise every few minutes. Although he got 8 hours of sleep, he never sunk into deep “delta sleep” or REM sleep, and his surface level sleep had the same effects as sleep deprivation on his health. This is why elderly people often develop Type 2 Diabetes later in life: sleeping gets more difficult with age.

6. You need about 7.5 hours of sleep to be fully rested (not including sleep debt)

While the hours of sleep a person needs can vary, the average amount of sleep that people need every night is around 7 and a half hours. Eight hours is ideal. While some people claim they can function on 5 or 6 hours, it’s highly likely that their performance and attention are impaired, and that they are using caffeine to attempt to get the effects of a true night’s sleep. There's one catch though: if you have sleep debt, 7.5 hours still won't be enough to keep you alert all day.

7. Taking naps helps you be more alert

Taking naps reduces sleep debt! Sometimes people suffer from “sleep drunkenness” after waking up from a nap, which means they are disoriented, groggy or sleepy even though they’re awake. This is likely because they woke up during REM sleep, in which the body enters a state of sleep paralysis. People go into stages of REM sleep approximately every 1.5 hours, so aiming to sleep less than this amount is usually a key to waking up feeling refreshed rather than groggy after a nap. 30 minute naps have worked the best for many people (including me), and generally have the same (or more of a) refreshing effect that a 2 hour nap does.

8. Sleep hygiene – Leave the bed if you’re awake in the middle of the night

Sleep hygiene is especially important for insomniacs (people who have trouble falling or staying asleep at night.) Some principles of sleep hygiene are don’t do work in bed, don’t worry in bed (designate a worrying time during the day rather than right before sleep), and leave the bed if you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back to sleep. All of these ideas are meant to keep the bedroom associated only with sleep, rather than with all of the daily worries of life. This association helps people fall asleep and stay asleep more easily.

9. Falling asleep at the wheel causes thousands of accidents per year

Falling asleep at the wheel is a huge cause of car accidents! If you notice yourself dozing off while driving, this is a sign that you have sleep debt and need to pull over to take a nap. Falling asleep for even a second can easily cause an accident while driving. When you’re drowsy, you’re likely experiencing “microsleeps” without even realizing it. Microsleeps are split seconds of sleep that occur often without the sleeper even realizing. The sleeper will normally just feel drowsy and not realize they are actually dozing off for seconds at a time. This is extremely dangerous while driving.

10. Drowsiness is red alert!

Just to reiterate, if you’re feeling drowsy, STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND TAKE A NAP! Especially if you’re driving. Drowsiness is the first stage of sleep. I repeat. Drowsiness is the first stage of sleep. When you’re drowsy, you’re technically not fully awake. You wouldn’t drive a car while asleep, would you? Don’t jeopardize your or your friends’ safety – notice the red alert and take a nap!

I hope this article was informative and that everyone gets more sleep. It's a relatively "new" occurrence for people to think of sleep as an inconvenience rather than a time they look forward to and leave at least 8 hours for. I encourage budgeting time for sleep! Try it out for a week. I believe if you get more sleep, you will feel better in many ways.