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Summer Wiford

ENG 1201

Professor Scot Johnson

20 March 2020

Sleep Affects Mental and Physical Health

Have you ever heard the quote, "Sleep is the golden chain that binds health and our bodies

together?" (Dekker) This quote is accurate, without sleep, our health and our bodies would

worsen, and we would not be able to function properly in life. Have you ever not slept and felt

like you got hit with a car and are just not ready for the day? Lack of sleep can take away your

energy and make you feel that way. Lack of sleep can have long term unwanted effects,

especially for young adults in the future.

What is sleep? Most people know that our bodies get worn out, and we need rest, and that

is why we need sleep. Sleep is a bit more critical than that! Sleep is a specific frame of time

where the brain can engage in certain activities that are necessary for life functioning. [ CITATION

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Sleep is important; it has a big impact on brain function and overall health. Sleeping for

the right amount of time helps the brains plasticity, or the brains ability to change and adapt. If

we do not get enough sleep at night, then we become unable to process learned information for

that day and we have more trouble remembering it in the future, as well as increasing our health

risks. According to researchers at John Hopkins Medicine, also believe that sleep helps to

promote waste removal from the brain cells and helps increase metabolism.

Most young adults do not understand how sleep is important and how it can have effect

on you in the long run. Most young adults focus their time on working, parting, homework, and

just having fun that they will stay up all night and not have any idea what they are doing to their
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mental and physical health. According to the National Sleep Foundation every time someone

loses any amount of sleep, they start to give up their happiness because of the mental effects

sleep can have. People with insomnia are 10 times as likely to have clinical depression and 17

times more likely to have clinical anxiety than someone who sleeps normally.

Making sure you get the right amount of sleep is essential and the recommended amount

of sleep varies based on age. According to the National Sleep Foundation, "the sleep range for a

newborn is 14-17 hours, infants are recommended to sleep 12-15 hours, toddlers 11-14 hours.

Preschoolers' sleep range is from 10-13 hours; school-aged children from 9-11 hours, teenagers'

8-10 hours, Adults should sleep 7-9 hours nightly, and older adults should get 7-8 hours of

recommended sleep each night." These hours are very interesting, especially how the older we

get the less sleep we need. Most adults are recommended to get 7-9 hours of sleep at night, but

more than one-third of US adults have reported getting only up to 6 full hours of sleep and they

just struggle to get through each day (NCBI.) This data means there are many people out there

functioning in the world that are at risk for mental or health issues or affecting others with their

sleep deprived behaviors every day.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, "In a study of nearly 19,000 people, the

people with sleep apnea were five times as likely to suffer from clinical depression." They

explained that a cause for this correlation is not being able to get fully rested night after night,

which alters brain activity, creating a chemical imbalance that causes depression affecting a

person's mood.

If you are struggling to sleep at night, there are strategies that can help you improve your

sleeping habits. You can make a sleeping schedule to follow where you include the times you go
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to sleep and wake up to make sure you get enough sleep. It is recommended that you avoid

taking naps. Naps interrupt your body from increasing your sleep drive and will keep you awake

longer at night. Daily exercise can also assist in sleep. Exercise helps your body become more

tired and will allow you to fall asleep easier. Weighted blankets have been found to decrease

your anxiety and help get a better night's sleep. Turning off all electronic devices or turning off

the blue light from your phone and sleeping in a dark room can assist in better sleep. The last

strategy I recommend is meditation. Certain meditations allow your brain and body to relax by

focusing on your breathing and getting your mind free from stress; meditation can be done

anywhere and anytime. Just because you are busy does not mean that you cannot meditate. There

are different meditations for different occasions and can take anywhere from 5 minutes to an

hour.

Of course, it is essential that we sleep, but oversleeping is also dangerous and can even be

worse than sleep deprivation in some cases. What is oversleeping? Oversleeping is any amount

of time spent asleep that is over the daily recommended time, which is usually any more than 9

hours of sleep. Many people have experienced oversleeping at least once in their lifetime. It may

feel nice to catch up on some sleep and sleep a little extra. I used to stay up and not sleep a lot,

but I always ended up feeling more tired and unenergetic afterward. Some people also have

certain conditions where they have to sleep more than seven to nine hours of sleep, which puts

them in danger of health risks.

Overall sleep takes a lot of time out of our lives, but it is an essential part for living.

There are different stages of sleep that your body cycles through at night and it is important that

you are getting the recommended hours of sleep a night. Lack of sleep has consequences

including a higher risk to depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders that may worsen overtime with
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continued lack of sleep. If you struggle at night with falling asleep there are different persuasions

that you can take to help improve your sleep and overall health.

Works Cited
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American Heart Association News. "5 Threats to Heart Health You May Not Be Aware Of." The

Columbus Dispatch, 19 July 2019, www.dispatch.com/lifestyle/20190719/5-threats-to-

heart-health-you-may-not-be-aware-of

Carter, Matthew, director. The Science of Sleep (and the Art of Productivity). TED, 22 March.

2018,

www.ted.com/talks/dr_matthew_carter_the_science_of_sleep_and_the_art_of_productivi

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Cimons, Marlene. "Is there a link between oversleeping and stillbirths?" Washington Post, 24

March. 2019. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link-gale-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/A579950579/OVIC?

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Dispatch. "Why Oversleeping Is Just as Bad as Sleep Deprivation." The NYU Dispatch, 27

February. 2019, wp.nyu.edu/dispatch/2019/02/20/why-oversleeping-is-just-as-bad-as-

sleep-deprivation/.

Peters, Brandon. "The Critical Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Your Body and Health. Verywell

Health, Verywell Health, 14 March. 2019, www.verywellhealth.com/what-are-the-

physical-effects-of-sleep-deprivation-3015079.

"Sleeping Tips & Tricks." National Sleep Foundation,

www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/healthy-sleep-tips

Sleepless in America. Dir. John Hoffman. Perf. National Geographic Channel. 2014

Staffe, Alexander Torp, et al. "Total sleep deprivation increases pain sensitivity, impairs

conditioned pain modulation, and facilitates temporal summation of pain in healthy

participants." PLoS ONE, vol. 14, no. 12, 2019, p. e0225849. Gale In Context: Opposing
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Viewpoints, https://link-gale-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/A607540225/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=24dfc61a. Accessed 12 April 2020.

"The Science of Sleep: Understanding What Happens When You Sleep." The Science of Sleep:

Understanding What Happens When You Sleep | Johns Hopkins Medicine,

www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/the-science-of-sleep-

understanding-what-happens-when-you-sleep.

Twenge, Jean. "Analysis: Teens Are Sleeping Less. Why? Smartphones." PBS, Public

Broadcasting Service, 19 October 2017, www.pbs.org/newshour/science/analysis-teens-

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