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Sleep and the Student - College Concerns
27% of college students report having trouble sleeping over the last year [1] |
Caffeine stays in the blood of a healthy adult for four to six hours. [2] Quit energy drinks, soda, coffee or other stimulants in the early afternoon so they won't disrupt your ability to sleep later on. |
Turn off or put away smart phones, TVs, tablets, computers and other electronics an hour or so before bed. The light they give off can affect your body's chemicals and rhythms, making it hard to fall asleep. [3] |
A sure fire way to avoid pulling an all-nighter is to not procrastinate and tackle the job-at-hand in small chunks over time, but let’s face it – sometimes that is just not the way things work. Instead of staying up all night, get some sleep and wake up really early to finish a paper or study for an exam. Aim for 8 hours of sleep if you can. Your brain will thank you with improved memory and cognitive functioning. If your roommate is pulling an all-nighter, keep a pair of earplugs and a sleeping mask handy to block out noise and light. |
60% of college students reported "pulling an all-nighter" once or more since starting school. Doing so was associated with a lower GPA. [4] |
If you take any medications that are known to have sleep-related side effects, talk to your doctor about changing your dosage or time that you take the medication.
Sometimes a simple change can make a world of difference. |
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Sources
1 http://www.acha-ncha.org/docs/ACHA-NCHA-II_ReferenceGroup_ExecutiveSummary_Spring2014.pdf
2 http://www.fda.gov/downloads/UCM200805.pdf
3 Figueiro M, Bierman A, Plitnick B, Rea M. Preliminary evidence that both blue and red light can induce alertness at night. BMC Neuroscience 2009;10(1):105.
4 Pamela V. Thacher (2008) University Students and the “All Nighter”: Correlates and Patterns of Students' Engagement in a Single Night of Total Sleep Deprivation, Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 6:1,16-31, DOI:10.1080/15402000701796114
5 http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/insomnia/basics/symptoms/con-20024293
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