Cole Maziarski
Maziarski 1
Smith
Writing and Rhetoric II
3/22/15
Help Received: Look at Works Citied
The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on College Students
All across the U.S., psychologists are discovering that college students are struggling
with a wide range of sleep disorders. Sleep disorders such as insomnia are having negative
effects on college students that in turn are negatively impacting the students physical and mental
health. Many people wonder how their sleep disorders started and what is making them stay?
The answer to this question is put into multiple parts. First, sleep disorders can relate all
the way back to a child’s younger years. Some children are born with sleep disorders and some
develop them at a young age. Although these disorders may start at a young age, some sleep
disorders tend to increase or worsen as age increases. Secondly, as many people face the
transition of a old environment to a new environment they often face difficulties with adjusting
their lifestyles which can lead to sleep deprivation and disorders. One key example is the
switching over from a high school type of lifestyle to a college lifestyle. It is pretty noticeable
that new college freshman often show signs of stress and fatigue due to the ever changing
environment that faces them with new weekly schedules, more demanding academic workloads,
and new social lives. With these new lifestyles, all college students tend to make bad choices
which can lead to multiple cases of sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation across the wide range of
college students is becoming more noticeable and is a serious situation that needs to be dealt with
sooner rather than later but multiple solutions have already been produced.
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With all the free time that college students have with their new lifestyles, they tend to
make bad choices that lead to them having sleep problems. These problems then result in college
students performing poorly and having harming mental and physical health. Numerous amounts
of bad choices that students make can lead to sleep disorders. One bad choice is the option to
sleep or not to sleep. It is widely advertised to adults and teens that college is all about partying
and staying up all night doing whatever you want. “But the recurrence of the disorder is a thing
to be deprecated, not only for the reason that it denotes a departure from the physiological order
of life, but because its frequent repetition prevents the adequate repair of the tissues of the body.”
(Lyman, Chapter 3). After taking a look at what Lyman said it becomes clearer that if students
were to constantly party and stay up late at night then students would keep having these sleeping
problems. The problem with choice is that college students stay up all night but then go to
classes and end up not getting enough sleep each night. Now some people may say that these
kids can just go to sleep whenever and nothing will happen to them but that is completely wrong.
With every choice there is consequences. According to a research article by Andrew Wilner
regarding insomnia, one point he was recorded saying was “Students with insomnia were
significantly more likely to have higher symptom scores in anxiety, depression, hostility…”
(Wilner). Although this talks solely about insomnia it is true about a variety of other sleep
disorders. In another article by Jane F. Gaultny, she was reported saying “…students who
reported insufficient sleep or daytime sleepiness also reported depressed mood and lower grades,
whereas 80% of students who reported getting enough sleep made A’s and B’s in school.”
(Gaultny). The point trying to be made is that huge percentages of new college students are
making bad decisions because they have the option to do basically whatever they want and its
effecting them.
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Sleep disorders among college students can have mental, physical, and social negative
side effects. Sleep disorders are known to cause effects such as lack of sleep, disturbed sleep
patterns, depression, anxiety, and various other consequences. According to an article regarding
sleep disorders, one psychologist is recorded saying “Young adults are at greater risk
than other age groups for developing first onset psychopathology, which may lead to lower
social and academic performance and worse long-term outcomes, such as dropout and
underemployment (Taylor). Regarding this statement, the consequences of sleep disorders is
very serious and mostly college students need to realize what they are facing for four years.
Another good example to show the negative side effects that students face, is to look at VMI
students. There are few people in the world that know what a VMI student goes through and how
their lives are affected daily, especially in academics. VMI students have a very strict weekly
routine that asks a lot from them and pushes them not only academically but also mentally and
physically. A better example of this is how a cadet has to stay up all night to study for a test and
write a paper that is all happening the Monday after Spring Furlough ends. The problem with this
is that since he will not be sleeping his chances of performing as best as he could tomorrow
during his classes and his athletic training will be very low. Another example is that several of
VMI students that stay up to very early in the morning working on homework because of how
much they get. This has negative consequences because these students are getting a lack of sleep
which will end up constantly happening to them because they are constantly changing their sleep
patterns and such.
Researchers all throughout the U.S. are trying to discover solutions to help new college
students with this difficult journey. One question that has come into play is whether there should
be some sort of program or programs that can help students with these new disorders. The best
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possible solution is that there should be some sort of support programs such as group meetings.
The best way for students to deal with new scary obstacles is for them to have support and to
know that they are not alone. According to an interview from a student attending grad school for
psychology at Radford University “College students need to find programs where they can feel
safe.” (Maziarski). These support programs and such will not just be for kids who are recently
developing these sleep disorders. Some kids get into college with sleep disorders and it gets even
worse for them because they have to face challenges that they have already faced before and new
ones. There is another highly possible solution to all of these sleep disorders and that is that
college students should have a certain amount of hours of sleep that they must get each day and
week. The positive effects of this solution are that it ensures that students are getting enough
sleep to function through the week. Although this may not help all sleep disorders it will
definitely help cure most sleep disorders that cause lack of sleep or sleepiness. There are still no
definite solutions to sleep disorders among college students and that is why researchers are
constantly bringing up new evidence of why these sleep disorders need to be treated and the
effects they are having on college students all across the U.S.
To close things off sleep disorders, such as insomnia, are having negative side effects on
college students throughout the U.S. These college students are facing constant dangers to their
health, which involves both mental and physical. There are some college students who have to
face these sleep disorders at a young age and bring them with them to college which makes
things worse but there are also students who develop these sleep disorders that can be just as
severe. Since students are living with a college lifestyle, they have a lot more freedom. This
tends to lead students to make bad choices such as staying up late constantly, hiding emotions
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from people, and even just being alone all the time. All of these bad choices tend to increase a
students risk of sleep disorders. Also, because sleep disorders among college students is
becoming a huge issue across the U.S., numerous amounts of researchers are trying to develop
solutions that can be effective. Some of these solutions include prescription medication, therapy
sessions, and treatment groups. The faster students are able to be treated for their sleep disorders
the better chance they have to become normal again and achieve to their full potential. Sleep
disorders among college students is a terrible thing and it needs to be dealt with sooner rather
than later because college students need to be able to live their lives normally without having
internal troubles. Sleep deprivation among college students is not a pleasant topic. There are
serious injuries involved and that is why psychologists and researchers need to continue to work
on finding solutions and answers to these problems.
Works Citied
Gaultney, Jane F. "The Prevalence of Sleep Disorders in College Students: Impact
on Academic Performance." Journal of American College Health: 91-97.
Print.
Hardison, Heather Gaines, Robert A. Neimeyer, and Kenneth L. Lichstein.
"Insomnia and Complicated Grief Symptoms in Bereaved College Students."
Behavioral Sleep Medicine: 99-111. Print.
Lyman, Henry M. Insomnia and Other Disorders of Sleep. Chicago: W.T. Keener,
1885. Print.
"Sleep Deprivation." Interview by Kyle J. Maziarski. Stafford, Virginia, 24 Mar.
2015. Television.
Taylor, Daniel J., Christie E. Gardner, Adam D. Bramoweth, Jacob M. Williams,
Brandy M. Roane, Emily A. Grieser, and Jolyn I. Tatum. "Insomnia and
Mental Health in College Students." Behavioral Sleep Medicine: 107-16.
Print.
"What Is Insomnia?" - NHLBI, NIH. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/inso>.