Lack of sleep: students battle tiredness

"Beep. Beep. Beep," is the rude wake-up alarm call countless numbers of students hear first thing in the morning. For Jill Baures, senior psychology major from Greenwood, Wis., that morning wake-up "beep" can be heard an average of three times before she rolls out of bed. 

"It's nice to hit that snooze button and get a few more minutes of sleep," Baures said.  Baures admits to getting an average of five to seven hours of sleep a night and can find it hard to get up in the mornings. 

With exams, papers, work, and relationships to maintain, students often will put sleep low on a priority list, not realizing the effect sleep has on all aspects of life.  

"Being awake 18 hours straight is equal to a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent," Sue Danielson, registered nurse and Viterbo coordinator of Health Services told Lumen. At 0.08 percent blood alcohol concentration, a person is considered legally drunk.    

Lack of sleep affects a student physically, mentally, and emotionally, Danielson said, and can also put a student at more risk for illness or injury. According to the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 100,000 sleep-related crashes occur each year.      

An average adult needs between seven to nine hours of sleep a night in order to get the full benefits of a good night's sleep and revive ones' body, Danielson said.      

A student who does not get the required amount of sleep a night they can experience trouble focusing or a loss of energy which can have a direct impact on academic performance, Danielson said.    

Every two years, Danielson collects student health information from Viterbo with the American College Health Association's Health Assessment II survey. According to the results from the April 2009 survey,15.3 percent of Viterbo students admitted to performing poorly in classes due to lack of sleep, whether it be receiving a bad grade. The survey also found sleep difficulties had caused 21.9 percent of Viterbo students' traumatic experiences in their everyday life.    

Sleep can affect how people feel about themselves, a person's mood, and the way a person handles anxiety or stress, Danielson said. 

Students typically try to combat tiredness with coffee or energy drinks, Danielson said. However, after the effects of such drinks wear off, students crash to a new extreme. "Your body cannot run on caffeine alone," Danielson said.    

Danielson said it is difficult for students to establish good sleep habits in college. "There is a new stimulus college students have to adjust to when they start living in a new area," Danielson said, including a new bed, roommates, and new living situations. 

Danielson encouraged students to build sleep patterns by going to bed around the same time each night and waking up around the same time each morning. "Even on weekends," Danielson said.    

Other tips Danielson offered for getting a good night's sleep included eating healthy, but not eating two to three hours before bed, exercising regularly, refraining from caffeine several hours before sleeping and establishing a sleep routine. 

With finals coming up around the corner, Danielson also encouraged getting a full night of rest before an exam. "It is not worth it to stay up late cramming," Danielson said.  "Late night studying only deprives a person of energy and sleep making it difficult for them to focus during an exam."      

Sleep is a way to refresh and rejuvenate a person's body, Danielson said. Preparing for finals doesn't just consist of studying for exams, Danielson said. "Preparing your body with a good nights rest will increase your energy level and ability to focus."