Question

How does having good or bad sleep influence all personal, professional, and academic aspects of ones life? Why is it important to have good sleep?

Answer 1

Getting enough sleep is essential for helping a person maintain optimal health and well-being. When it comes to their health, sleep is as vital as regular exercise and eating a balanced diet.

Studies show that teenagers need 9-10 hours of sleep. Without proper sleep, memory and the ability to concentrate as well as higher cognitive functioning is severely affected.

This means that when your teen pulls an all-nighter to study for exams, they are setting themselves up for a poor academic performance on exam day.

A survey by the National Sleep Foundation found that 60% of high school students suffered from extreme daytime fatigue which caused them to regularly fall asleep in class.

They attributed this to the average of 6.5 hours of sleep that the students were getting. “Chronic sleep loss in children and adolescents is one of the most common – and easily fixable – public health issues in the U.S. today,” said pediatrician Judith Owens, MD who led the study.

Moreover, putting sleep on the back burner may help professional employees hit their deadlines, but it is likely a poor—and possibly dangerous—long-term strategy. A substantial amount of research has found that sleep is critical to overall performance and well-being.

A lack of sleep has a direct, negative impact on a person’s body, mind, and spirit, also affecting emotions, temperament, and self-control. Additionally, chronic sleep deprivation has been linked to many leading health issues, such as heart disease, obesity, dementia, diabetes, and cancer. Modern-day living in the United States and many other countries does not always embrace the necessity for adequate sleep. Yet, it is important that people make an effort to get enough sleep regularly.

The following are some of the many benefits health professionals associate with getting a good night’s rest.

• Stay Alert. Good sleep allows your mind to regain focus and tackle those tricky mental challenges. It can also stimulate creativity.
• Boost Memory. Sleeping is the most important time to shape memories and make the connections between events, feelings and experiences. In fact, sleep is a requirement to form new learning and memory pathways in the brain.
• Fight Infection. Sleep is your body’s mechanism to ward off infection. When you don’t get enough, your immune system is weaker, making you more susceptible to illness.
• Be Active. Energy levels after healthy sleep are higher, and your mental awareness is more acute. Good sleep is also tied to improved athletic performance, including greater speed, agility and reflexes.
• Replenish. During sleep, your body repairs the damage caused by stress, ultraviolet rays and other harmful exposure, as well as muscle injuries and other traumas.

When you don’t get enough sleep over time, not only do you lose out on the key benefits of sleep, but you also become more vulnerable to a number of short- and long-term health risks.