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William Hughes

Dr. Cassel

English Composition II

26 March 2022

Sleep Deprivation in Adolescents and Young Adults

It was a cold rainy morning in the middle of December, and my house was eerily quiet

like a child listening to a scary story. I was lying in bed contemplating life and all the

embarrassing decisions I made as a ten-year-old, the kind of thoughts that the mind only has

when trying and failing at falling asleep. Then, I decided to check the time. "It is 3 am., and I still

have not fallen asleep. How will I focus on school tomorrow?” I pondered. I am not an

insomniac; I do not have any medical condition that sleep deprivation is a symptom of, but I, like

many other adolescents, had stayed up doing homework. Now my mind would not stop moving a

million miles a minute. This experience is not unique to me. In fact, according to healthline.com,

73% of teenagers do not get enough sleep every night (Campbell). Furthermore, sleep

deprivation affects an adolescent's health by changing the way they act in social situations,

causing physical sicknesses like vomiting, headaches, and diarrhea, causing mental illnesses like

depression, and even affecting their long-term life by influencing how they act and learn in

school. I was not alone in my struggle to obtain sleep.

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The Oxford English Dictionary defines sleep deprivation as "A disruption and reduction

in the number of hours of sleep normally needed by a person." Often termed insomnia: " is a

common sleep disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, hard to stay asleep, or cause you to

wake up too early and not be able to get back to sleep" (Mayo Clinic). Sleep is a required bodily

function therefore people have been sleeping from the beginning of human existence, and as

such, humans have been sleeping deprived for just as long. The condition of lack or necessary

sleep or sleep deprivation has consequences for everyone, especially adolescents (Casavi et al.

1). In the remainder of this paper, adolescent sleep difficulties will be examined more

thoroughly.

Sleep deprivation has several social consequences for example, lack of sleep can cause

adolescents to lose friends by changing their social awareness, therefore, affecting their overall

mental health. When consistently losing sleep, an adolescent will become increasingly socially

awkward. Adolescents may find themselves irritable and forget some baseline social skills when

falling below the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep every night. The brain does not fully

function at 100% when an individual lacks necessary sleep. Interestingly, adolescents require

more sleep than full-grown adults, meaning their brain is less functional when receiving the same

amount of sleep as an adult (Casavi et al. 1). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5th edition

(DSM-5) , which is the diagnostic tool used by all mental health providers, lists sleep deprivation

as a symptom of many of the recognized mental health ailments, including but not limited to

depression, anxiety, and psychosis (American Psychiatric Association). Experiencing mental

health symptoms or worse mental illnesses will undoubtedly have life changing disruption a
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person's perspective of the world. Additionally mental illness comes with its own set of problems

causing additional social awkwardness and unawareness.

Lack of sleep impacts adolescents’ day-to-day life. Other potential concerns about

adolescent sleep problems are that individuals are at increased risk of both drug and alcohol use

and poor school performance. Adolescents are at heightened risk of drug use when they do not

receive enough sleep. "For example, adolescents with disturbed sleep report more depression,

anxiety, anger, inattention and conduct problems, drug and alcohol use, impaired academic

performance, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors" (Roberts and Duong 239). It can be inferred

that if an adolescent develops either a drug or an alcohol addiction as a minor, that problem will

likely affect them for years to come, which could be traced back to an original sleep problem.

Disregarding the fact that drug and alcohol alone will lead to poor school performance, sleep

deprivation by itself is a cause of poor school performance. When sleep-deprived, an adolescent

will experience daytime sleepiness and demonstrate impaired cognitive function (Roberts and

Duong 239). The functional impairment would likely cause an inability to perform at the

adolescent's highest level of school function. Daily functioning can be significantly affected by

sleep deprivation in the form of poor school performance and a higher risk for drug and alcohol

addiction for adolescents.

As mentioned previously, increased risk for depression is caused by sleep deprivation,

however the inverse is not true. Depression is not a cause of insomnia, rather insomnia can

contribute to the diagnosis of depression (Roberts and Duong 239). The DSM-5 lists disturbed

sleep and sleep deprivation as symptoms of numerous mental illnesses and sleep deprivation
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increases the risk of depression. Another factor affecting adolescent sleep is the availability and

use of technology. Adolescents were born into an abundance of technology use and they live in

the age of technology. It is expected that adolescents use a variety of screens, electronic

resources, and computers. Cell phone or other screen use will lead to lower sleep quality. For

example, the screen adolescents use daily admits blue light. This blue light deters the

adolescent's ability to sleep correctly. "This blue light can decrease the production of melatonin,

the hormone which controls the sleep/wake cycle or circadian rhythm. Reduction in melatonin

makes it difficult to fall and stay asleep" (Rafique et al. 358). The blue light admitted from the

screen could heighten already bad sleep problems in some adolescents. Yet many adolescents fall

asleep holding one's phone or engaging with some screen immediately prior to attempting to fall

asleep.

A considerable number of adolescent-aged children suffer from mental illness, and sleep

deprivation contributes to adolescent mental health problems. According to the National Institute

of Mental Health (NIMH), Almost 50% of adolescents suffer from some type of mental illness

(See Fig. 1). This number takes into account the number of teens that suffer from mental illness

because of sleep deprivation; however, if schools and other educational bodies provided

education on good sleep hygiene and discussed sleep deprivation and its dangers, this number

could potentially be lower. Unfortunately, sleep health is often overlooked when discussing

mental health awareness. If adolescents were made aware of the risks of sleep deprivation, the

number of teenagers who have mental illness would undebatably be lower. Not only does sleep
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deprivation affect the body both physically and mentally, sleep deprivation also has affected the

brain physiologically.
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Fig 1. This figure illustrates the percentage of adolescent children who have mental illness and

shows it based on age, sex, and a composite.

Source: National Institute of Mental Health. “Lifetime Prevalence of Any Mental Disorders

among Adolescents (2001-2004) Data from the National Comorbidity Survey Adolescent

Supplement (NCS-A).” National Institute of Mental Health, Jan. 2022,

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness#:~:text=An%20estimated%2049.5%25
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%20of%20adolescents,estimated%2022.2%25%20had%20severe%20impairment. Accessed 3

Apr. 2022.

In addition to the physiological problems caused by sleep deprivation, sleep difficulties

can also cause problems in knowledge obtainment, education, and learning difficulties. Sleep

deprivation can cause problems in learning for many reasons. There is a logical progression in

education and if a student struggles and performs poorly in high school, this will have lasting

effects on their ability to be admitted to college or succeed in higher education. There are other

career options that do not necessarily require a college degree but in general having a college

education allows for improved choices and a potential to earn higher life wages. Poor school

habits can also greatly impact other lifelong behaviors developing in adolescents. For example,

"80.5% of students with poor academic performance are often absent from work, of which 16.9%

absenteeism is particularly serious" (Wu and Xin 1653). As Wu and Xin show, students who

perform poorly in academics are likely to be late or experience attendance issues while at work.

If severe and repeated, ongoing sleep deprivation can cause a person to have absenteeism in their

job through a correlation with academic performance.

Sleep deprivation can be severe and affect a person for a lot longer than adolescence.

Most of the jobs in America require at least some college education. Going back to the statement
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that there are jobs that do not require a college degree, this is true but many of those jobs are part

time or undesirable for career satisfaction. Over 50% of jobs do require some college education.

According to Georgetown University, 65% of jobs require some college education (Carnevale et

al. 6). Students, as shown above, might have a lower chance of being accepted into a college or

university when they are consistently sleep deprived. Therefore, sleep deprivation can affect

what jobs they qualify for later in life. Meaning that a seemingly simple mistake as poor sleep

hygiene as an adolescent can affect a person for their entire life. A person might face the

consequences of sleep deprivation for a long time.

The number 1 task of being an adolescent is to complete high school. School attendance

is also the reason many adolescents go to sleep at an appropriate time. School is also why many

adolescents are up so late or get up too early respective to when they fall asleep. Middle school

and high school are the contributing source of stress, sleep-related problems, and source of joy

and fulfillment for many adolescents. The vast majority of schools, mainly middle and high

schools, start early in the morning; how does this compare to the average work start time?

According to Laura Montini at INC.com, the United States median work start time is about 8 am.

However, some cities like New York City, Atlantic City, and San Jose do not start until 8:30.

Ms. Montini also says a quarter of Atlantic city jobs do not begin until after 11:30, though,

because of the city's high tourism. Whereas 42.5% of public high schools in the United States

start before 8:00 am, according to the National Center for Education Statistics or the NCES.

Following the above statistics, it is easy to ask why school starts so early compared to when the

working world starts?

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In an attempt to answer that question, schools in America start early for many reasons

such as extracurricular activities and after-school jobs. Adolescents enjoy spending time with

peers and making friends outside of a school setting. These extra-curricular activities take place,

for the most part, either right after the end of a school day or in the hours following. Schools

begin at an early hour in an attempt to not have students up at unreasonable hours doing

homework after their after-school events or jobs. Furthermore, many high school students also

have after-school jobs. Chris Kolmar at Zippia.com found that about 30% of high school-aged

students had after-school jobs in the 2019-2020 academic year. The number of students that have

jobs or participate in extra-curricular activities does justify that schools start early; however, with

the addition of homework on top of the after-school responsibilities, students still end up staying

up late, the same problem schools try to avoid with early start times.

Some would argue that the amount of homework assigned is not too much however, the

addition of homework on top of the other activities adolescent children participate in after

school, whether extra-circulars or an after-school job, creates lots of stress and busyness in the

adolescent's life. For example, Valerie Strauss at the Washington Post found that 50,000 students

surveyed from October 2018 to January 2020 reported having an average of 2.7 hours of

homework on weeknights and 3.0 hours on the weekend. It is common knowledge that the

average school day is 8 hours long. This number means that students are spending, on average,

ten, almost 11 hours on school alone each day. This number does not consider the amount of

time being spent on extra-circulars and spending time with friends. The day is only 24 hours

long, and if an adolescent gets the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep each night, being
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conservative, after sleeping and performing the daily school tasks, this leaves only five hours left

in each day for extra-circulars, spending time with family and friends, and going to work, if the

adolescent has a job. It is a safe assumption that therefore adolescents, especially high school-

aged adolescents, suffer from sleep deprivation.

All of this is not to say homework is not a necessity. Homework, especially in classes like

math, provides a necessary source of practice outside of the school day. When teachers give

quality homework at the appropriate ages, students benefit from it. "We do know that beginning

in late middle school and continuing through high school, there is a strong and positive

correlation between homework completion and academic success" (Rimer et al.). In courses like

math, daily self-practice is required to help students grasp the subject material and show the

teacher or professor that their students understand the given concepts. Even though, according to

Rimer et al., homework has been proven to benefit middle and high school-aged children more,

elementary school-aged children can also benefit from it. Homework teaches time management

skills and prepares the younger aged school children for the kind of work they will be given once

they reach middle school and high school. All this to say, teachers advocate for homework.

Teachers do recommend homework. As shown above, teachers give homework for a

reason. The trick is providing the right amount of homework and creating a proper work-life

balance. When given the appropriate amount of homework, a student should be able to take all

the benefits from homework without the consequences if their time management skills are good.

The consequences, in this case, are sleep deprivation, which will lead to mental and physical

health problems. That is the problem and the solution; giving homework in elementary schools to
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teach time management skills. The newfound time management skills will help the student all

the way into their high school careers, allowing for homework assignments while not being

worried about causing the student's sleep deprivation.

Homework can have many benefits and many consequences when not carefully

considering the various aspects of the student's life. The benefits are weighted pretty equally to

the consequences. Homework makes students more intelligent (Rimer et al.), allowing teachers

to show progress. When students stay up and do not receive the recommended amount of sleep,

though, then the cons become very serious. When given too much homework, a student will

surely stay up too late to complete it. At the same time, if students receive too little homework,

the student will not have the practice associated with completing the homework.

Consequently, good sleep hygiene is essential. According to Sleep Score Labs, without

proper sleep hygiene, the human body would not have the adequate amount of energy to

reasonably complete a 40-hour work or school week. Therefore, good sleep hygiene is crucial to

getting through the week. Sleep Score Labs also offers some sleep hygiene techniques.

Researchers from Sleep Score Labs say to avoid caffeine by the late afternoon, or the body will

not be ready for sleep in the evening. Researchers also report that daytime sleeping, commonly

referred to as naps, can be taken only if absolutely necessary and should be limited to 30 minutes

each day. This pattern of not getting adequate sleep and compensating with day time napping is a

cycle too is difficult to break but a daytime nap affects the following night's sleep readiness.

Additionally, it is crucial to clear one's mind and avoid thinking about anything too stressful in

the hours leading up to bed; instead, do relaxing things like playing a crossword or listening to
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relaxing music. It is important to slowly shut the mind down as opposed to stimulating the brain.

Lastly, it is important to set the sleeping stage by preparing the bedroom. For example, the

bedroom should be between 65- and 75-degrees Fahrenheit, and the bedroom should be for bed

and bed only. Other than relaxing in bed, no work or relaxing should be done in the bedroom.

Sleep hygiene is particularly important for an excellent sleep experience. One risks all the

consequences stated above if they do not receive the proper amount of well-rested sleep. There

are many risks to sleep deprivation or improper sleep, as stated above. Following these simple

suggestions allows for a better sleep experience that makes certain the sleeper is benefiting as

much as possible from sleep. Sleep deprivation can be a severe problem, and homework and

school might only add to it when adolescents have proper time management and are not assigned

too much homework; however, homework can be good for them.

Adolescent sleep deprivation has many physiological effects that can affect an adolescent

for their entire life and an area of concern that could be easily addressed with education on

healthy sleep habits. Sleep deprivation can change social behavior, cause physical sicknesses like

vomiting, headaches, and diarrhea, cause mental illness like depression, and can even affect the

long-term life of an adolescent by influencing how they act and learn in school; however, school

can also cause sleep deprivation because of the amount of homework giving to students, but

homework is not always a bad thing as there are many benefits to homework as well. Awareness

and acknowledgement of the problem of adolescent sleep deprivation by schools, families and

society is a good start to problem solving. Solutions could be found with the individuals, family,

and community levels.

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Campbell, Leah. “Is Your Teen Getting Enough Sleep? 73% Don't. Here's Why.” Healthline,

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