Um, sleep? What even is that? Sleep—it's the most important thing for us college kids and it's the thing we get the least. We cheer if we manage to get five hours of sleep at night and can't wait to take those after-class naps. Naps are a miracle for us, even if they only last fifteen minutes—and caffeine is a must to make it through an 8 a.m. (Or any class, for that matter). However, the lack of sleep we are receiving may actually cause us serious problems when it comes to learning and being healthy. So, before you go and pull an all-nighter at that party tonight or stay up for that Physics test tomorrow morning, read these ten facts and rethink about making sleep a priority.
1. Staying awake for 16 hours straight decreases your performance as much as if your blood alcohol level was .05 percent—almost the legal limit of .08 percent.
2. Sleep improves your memory—your mind is constantly working, even when you are asleep, by practicing new skills you learned while you were awake. More sleep = More practice = Easy studying! (That is why you should study before bed and get a good night's rest before taking that Physics test tomorrow—shh, its a secret).
3. You’ll die young if you get less than five hours a sleep a night. Well, young compared to those people who live to be 90 to 100. So, if you're cool with living just between 50 and 70, then by all means, sleep less.
4. You’re more likely to get in a car accident if you’re sleep deprived—some say it is actually worse to drive tired than to drive drunk. I think both are terrible, so please don’t do either!
5. Sleep loss makes you dumb, so pulling that all-nighter to cram study for your test tomorrow is not really that great of an idea after all, is it? Sleep and you’ll be smarter. You’ll be alert in class instead of sleeping, which is a small point to this argument.
6. Sleep loss can lead to some serious health problems. Yeah, yeah, you probably have heard this before, but we are actually at the perfect age to get problems such as Diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and irregular heartbeats. Yeah, your coffee isn’t the only thing contributing to that.
7. Lack of sleep is depressing. If you continue to lack sleep, you’ll eventually make yourself depressed. Trust me, I know all about this one. Being tired makes you sad and want to do nothing else but to lay in bed all day long and recover. But you can’t sleep because now you have insomnia because of your depression. And you have that Physics test to study for—go figure.
8. Less sleep = Being more forgetful. Ever forget a password or a code to get into your room? Or do you ever have those instances where you just draw blanks—not the kind you have on tests, but the kind where you walk into a room and forget why you walked in there? Yeah, you need more sleep.
9. Less sleep makes you old. Okay, not really, but its terrible for your skin and makes it age faster—as you can probably see from those black bags under your eyes.
10. Sleep loss can make you GAIN weight—this is probably the worst one. When you’re sleep deprived, you’re constantly hungry because you need more energy to stay awake. Lack of sleep reduces Leptin, a peptide that normally reduces your appetite. I guess if you’re trying to gain weight, you should sleep less.
See how important sleep is? So please skip that party tonight, study some for your test, and GO TO BED. No, seriously. It's Important. Stop reading this. There's nothing more. Go to bed.
