It’s October—the time of Pumpkin Spice Lattes, pretty yellow and orange leaves, Jack-O-Lanterns, dressing up as our favorite TV characters, and sleep deprivation due to having 3 papers, a speech, and a presentation due. It’s mid-semester (give or take a week) and you are probably stressing out over that 20-page research paper on Metaphor in Shakespeare. So before anyone drops in Sorority Circle on their way to class because they stayed up for 9 days binge watching Xena: Warrior Princess, I’d like to discuss some of the benefits of sleep and what happens when you don’t get enough (or any at all).
Sleep has to be one of my most favorite activities. I actually have a legitimate reason for not answering my phone. All jokes aside, there are some major health benefits for sleeping.
Sleep improves your overall physical health . When you get a good amount of sleep (roughly 8 hours for adults), you are less likely to develop diseases like Heart Disease or Diabetes. Getting the sleep you need also boosts your immune system (get enough sleep and you won’t get a visit from Influenza when finals week hits.).
Sleep improves your memory. When you sleep, it allows your brain to process everything you’ve experienced during the day. So rather than cramming right up until that mid-term exam or chapter test, sleep on it and go in pens blazing.
Sleep lowers your risk to injury. When you wake up after having had a good night’s sleep, you’re more alert and aware of your surroundings. You won’t accidentally walk into oncoming traffic on your way to class or lunch because you thought “Hey, I should look both ways before crossing.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve almost gotten hit by a car because I was running on coffee fumes.
But just as much as I love sleeping, I love staying up for three days binge watching the newest season of Bones on Netflix to see what happens to Booth and Brennan. And while I engage in this hazardous activity, I forget the drawbacks of not getting enough sleep.
Not getting enough sleep can impair judgement. Like drinking or doing drugs, lack of sleep can impair your judgement. When you go to fix yourself that eight (or was it ninth?) cup of coffee, you could mistake that box of rat poison for sweetener because the boxes look the same and you don’t think “Maybe I should read the label first.”
Not getting enough sleep affects your mood. This one goes hand in hand with stress. By being deprived of sleep, you subject yourself to irritability and sudden mood changes. You might be on day three of no sleep and feel like you could base jump Mount Kilimanjaro, but an hour later you might be throwing a phone at an assistant.
Not getting enough sleep can cause you to eat more. This has nothing to do with burning calories screaming at Netflix because it started buffering right as your favorite character has been gravely injured. By not sleeping, the chemicals in the brain (peptides) that control appetite are affected, causing you to eat more. So if you don’t want to go through a month’s worth of food in three days, go to sleep.
