The consequences of sleep debt

Sleep

All human beings need sleep in order for their bodies and minds to function properly. However, more and more people are staying up later than they should and then getting up without having slept the amount of time that they physically need in order to recover and ready themselves for the next day. Sleep debt refers to the deficit between the amount of sleep that a person gets and the amount that they need to function. The official definition, according to Scientific American states: "Sleep debt is the difference between the amount of sleep you should be getting and the amount you actually get. It's a deficit that grows every time we skim some extra minutes off our nightly slumber" (Webster 1). Every night it seems that for a large percentage of the population, the sleep debt seems to increase. There are many individuals who never get enough sleep and so their sleep debt is insurmountable. Young people are particularly at risk for accumulating sleep debt which can make a resoundingly negative impression on their lives. For young people, sleep debt leads to personality change and trouble in relationships, can lead to car accidents, and makes it difficult for them to concentrate or succeed in school, not to mention that they are frequently late because of oversleeping due to chronic fatigue and increasing sleep debt.

It has been postulated that sleep deprivation can cause attitudes and moods which are negative and therefore can negatively impact the relationships between the sleep deprived and others. This has been researched by Pilcher and Walters, who assert that when it is only a 24-hour sleep deprivation, they were not able to see much mood differentiation. According to their research, "24 hours of sleep deprivation significantly affects only fatigue and confusion and does not have a more general effect on positive or negative mood states" (Pilcher 520). This research counters original ideas that even this amount of sleep debt could cause severe problems for the individual, but does nothing to either support or deny how longer periods of sleep deprivation would alter mood or behavior. In fact, other sources, including the National Sleep Foundation, have declared that there is a link between unhappiness in teens and lack of sleep (511).

Besides the potential damage to relationships, sleep debt can cause physical injury and even death in young people and adults. The reason for this is that people operate cars and other heavy machinery while sleep deprived. Someone who has not had enough sleep and then gets behind the wheel, as many teenagers and those in their early twenties will, they tend to nod off and then get into car accidents, either by running into something or by hitting another car. Therefore, these individuals are not only putting their own lives in danger, but are also endangering other people. It is reported that "more than one-half (51%) of adolescent drivers have driven drowsy during the past year. In fact, 15% of drivers in 10th to 12th grades drive drowsy at least once a week" (National 511). Fred Danner and Barbara Phillips state that when students receive the appropriate amount of sleep, they were more successful in class and also that they did not have to resort to "catch up sleep" on the weekend (522). This means that the majority of young drivers are not functioning at their full capacity when they are behind the wheel.

Sleep deprivation is also leading to the failure of students and their lack of success in the classroom. The less students sleep at night, the more difficulty they will have getting up for school in the morning. Additionally, when they get to school, there is a danger that they will be unable to focus. There is a great likelihood that they will even fall asleep in class, thereby missing out on lectures and even assignments because of their sleep deprivation. Students have even been found to fall asleep in the middle of tests and important examinations. In the article published by the National Sleep Foundation, it was stated that "more than one-quarter (28%) of high school students fall asleep in school, 22% fall asleep doing homework, and 14% arrive late or miss school because they oversleep" (511). This is a startling statistic because these students are being judged according to the same criteria as those who are not suffering from sleep deprivation. Research conducted by Harvard University found that children as young as elementary-school age are not receiving the necessary amount of sleep which then leads to inattentiveness (Lambert 1). This is often misidentified as Attention Deficit Disorder and children are put on stimulant medication like Ritalin when what they really need is longer and more restful sleep.