Sleep, Socialize, and Study: Reality or Fiction? Term Paper Example

Sleep is the action of resting, and while it is a natural facet of the human condition in order to regenerate the energy and vitality of the human body, its influence intersects with a student’s ability to study and socialize. Indeed, high school and college students benefit from being able to enjoy the so-called college experience, which often requires sleeping very few hours and instead spending a large portion of their time studying or socializing in venues such as in fraternity and/or sorority houses. Medical experts time ad again contend that sleep is the natural way for the human body to rejuvenate and regain strength in order to complete the tasks needed on a quotidian basis. While the body sleeps, the body is able to repair particular parts that have been damaged throughout the wear and tear of a long working day. It is also during this time that it resets the body systems into becoming more capable of handling new sets of challenges for the upcoming day (Brown, et a., 2012). The process or pattern that sleep follows is rather simple and quite basic. Nonetheless, the work it does is expansive, especially in the manner by which the body becomes more capable to confront various pressures. The brain, in particular, is brought into a more capacitated state through the concept of the actual act of sleeping. The intersectionality of student studying habits, sleep duration, and capacity to socialize are all intrinsically linked.

Sleepiness felt by students during the daytime in addition to abnormal sleep schedules and sleep deprivation are very likely conditions to wrack college students. Indeed, Herschner & Chevin (2014) argue that “50% report daytime sleepiness and 70% attain insufficient sleep. The consequences of sleep deprivation and daytime sleepiness are especially problematic to college students and can result in lower grade point averages, increased risk of academic failure, compromised learning, impaired mood, and increased risk of motor vehicle accident” (Herschener & Chevin, 2014). This study reveals the direct correlation that exists between sleeo problems and sleep disorders on students’ GPA, mood, academic achievement, and ability to drive. Decreasing sleepiness amongst students is this of paramount importance in order to avoid students sleeping through their pressing classes, thereby detracting from the educative process. Sleep issues have historically been a major contributor to depression on college campuses due to the fact that so many pressures both educational and social wrack so many of them. Indeed, adequate sleep profoundly affect the efficacy of sleeping patterns, the overall health of the college student body, and the learning and cognitive processes that develop therein. Future research is necessary and critical to ascertain and assess both viable and effective interventions to underscore how encouragement by professionals in conjunction with sleep epistemologies covering so-called healthy sleep pattern can help college students change their habits in a cost-effective and timely manner. More quality sleep enhances the focus of students so they can be more engaged in the pedagogical processes therein, which propels them to study more and in a more effective manner.

There is a common time-span that is required for a person to achieve optimal sleep in order for them to be able to function properly. More often than not, individuals in their youth are required to sleep at least six to eight hours at night and older ones to take on at least six to eight hours in a day. Nevertheless, it is advisable that a person takes longer sleep time at night especially because this follows the natural human body clock. While morning offers a specific form of rest, it has been observed through study that nightly rest is more beneficial. For those who can sleep at night without problem, the rejuvenation process does complete the overall benefit that it is supposed to make especially in terms of distinctively identifying with the bodily refreshment needed by an individual. However, there is a distinct problem for those who cannot completely sleep at night due to different issues and excuses including particular activities that take up against the time allotted for sleeping. Accordingly, these issues make a distinct impact on how a person functions in the morning [and even during the rest of the day]. These problems include incapability on completing tasks on time or within the quality required. At the same manner it also makes a person lose his gist towards considering a more concentrated assumption of how he ought to handle his connection with others. The social capacities of a person are rather impaired when good sleep is removed from his daily schedule. The inability of the body to rejuvenate within the required time makes it harder for him to respond to situations with full assumption of the pros and cons of the considerations he needs to give attention to especially in dealing with other individuals surrounding him. Sadly, most of these encounters result to conflicts often putting the individual within an uncomfortable situation.

For students who undergo such problems of sleeping inadequately, it could be realized that the process of efficiently functioning and concentrating in school and completing tasks becomes rather faulty. The brain’s capacity to function properly is compromised especially because it was not rejuvenated properly as needed. For those who have already adapted to the situation, it might be that they are already able to get through a day without necessarily getting enough sleep. Nevertheless, the result of this inability to get enough sleep will have its long term effects [especially targeting the functionality and behavior of the patient.

Studies have proven that those who are not getting enough sleep have a lower rate of tolerance to pressure in class and thus suffer in terms of academic achievement (Parmeggiani, 2011). Instead of being able to grasp what they are being presented with, it is most often than not that they are challenged to handle school activities as they tend to stress themselves out without any success in getting the result that they think they could achieve based on a regular process of functioning as learner [depending on their past performances] (Parmeggiani, 2011). The same holds true for some, and the deterioration of function occurs gradually and almost undistinguished. It is because of this that sleep has become a rather distinct element for improving individual function and sociability. Sleep deprivation  not only robs an individual of their ability to perform well in the classroom, it also renders them quite unattractive within the socialization process. As such, sleep plays a formative role not only within educational settings but also in terms of normative socialization practices since studies have attested to the fact that sleep-deprived individuals are viewed as less attractive than their healthier counterparts who sleep at least eight hoours. Kraland (2012) notes that the “ lack of sleep repels those you meet or socialize with” (Kraland, 2012). Such notions intimate that sleep is formative in human function in a variety of ways.

The development of better sleep practice especially among those who have always been having issues is not an easy pattern of improvement to acquire. There are usually some therapies that these individuals have to go through especially in making a distinct form of effect on the ways by which sleep concentration is improved. The primary steps involve eliminating the sources of problem that the patients are undergoing especially in relation to the sleep pattern that they hope to balance out. Practically, helping the individuals see through the situation through naming the issues they need to balance out with would be a good source of foundation on how the affected persons themselves would be motivated to take the initiative to change the course of their daily activities therefore improving their personal sleep practices accordingly(Turek, et al, 1999). Giving them a better picture of what is happening and what they should do during the instances when sleep becomes elusive could allow them to embrace a better course of determining the real benefits of sleeping especially related to how they deal with daily pressures may it be related to their personal capacity to function as students or workers, or their desire to make good social connections with peers and with other individuals surrounding them.

References

Brown, Ritchie E., Radhika Basheer, James T. McKenna, Robert E. Strecker, & Robert W. McCarley (2012). “Control of Sleep and Wakefulness“. Physiological Review 92, pp. 1087–1187.

Krayland, S. (2012). How sleep deprivation affects our attractiveness and approachability  Huffington Post. Retrieved December 10, 2015 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/11/sleep-deprivation-attractiveness-approachability_n_1873434.html

Parmeggiani, Pier Luigi (2011). Systemic Homeostasis and Poikilostasis in Sleep: Is REM Sleep a Physiological Paradox? London: Imperial College Press. ISBN 978-1-94916-572-2

Hershner, S/D. & Chervin, R.D. (2014). Causes and consequences of sleepiness among colle ge students. Joural of National Science of Sleep, 6, 73-84.

Turek, Fred W. & Phyllis C. Zee, eds. (1999). Regulation of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms. New York: Marcel Dekker, Incorporated.