Free Custom «Sleep» Essay Paper

Sleep can be defined at a time when the mind and body rest and normally the eyes are closed. During this period when one is asleep, a person becomes unconscious and may not be aware of what is happening around him. Sleep is important, because it is something that is natural and trying to reverse this natural phenomenon can cause harm to our bodies and even lead to a disorder. There are some sleep disorders and problems that affect sleeping patterns. One of the most common disorders is insomnia. Insomnia is the failure to get the required quantity of sleep.  This problem arises from a number of issues including anxiety and depression. Another sleep disorder is sleep apnea, which entails short breathing stops due to problems in airways while sleeping. Other serious problems in sleeping are restless legs syndrome and narcolepsy. This essay outlines a number of sleep issues among them sleep articulation, do’s of sleep, don’ts of sleep and an analysis of sleep survey conducted in class.

Sleep articulation

Students need to have enough rest after their long day’s work every day. They normally have a beehive of activities during the day that is why when the evening comes they need to relax both their bodies and the mind. If they do not get enough rest, then they will not be in a position to start the following day on time and be able to do their daily activities. They find it hard to keep awake throughout the day, which leads to lack of concentration. Once there is no concentration for a student, it means that many things are going to be affected. Firstly, the student might not be able to follow a given lesson keenly since one might be dosing in class as the lesson progresses. Secondly, the student might pick wrong information as the concentration is low. Lastly, the student might even opt to miss classes all together and choose to sleep in order to recover the lost sleep. It is, therefore, important to have a consistent bedtime as it has positive development. In the article “Students brains need their sleep” (2010) it points out that parents have a big role to play in helping their children set regular time for going to bed.

Do`s of sleep

Sleep deprivation means not having enough sleep as one ought to sleep. It has various effects such as failing to be alert. The effect of not being alert also leads to errors in whatever work that one is going to do. Accumulated sleep due to lack of going to bed on time can build up pressure. According to” NewsRx Health,” students who do not have enough sleep at night usually have sleep restriction, and as results showed, that after sleep restriction, the subjects had lapses in alertness and had fatigue of some kind (NewsRx Health et al.). But once they were given time to recover the sleep, they went back to normal, although it required some time. Recovery can only take place in time taken in bed. It is, therefore, recommended that once there is sleep restriction, it is important to get time to recover. Otherwise, accumulated sleep can affect the brain. In order to establish a regular bed time, Denise recommends create a favorable sleeping environment (Denise et al.). Such environment includes a silent and dark room with a bed that has a comfortable mattress and a pillow. A good sleeping environment enables one to fall asleep on time without struggling and once asleep there will be no interruption. Sleeping in such a condition enables one to have enough sleep and ready to get up the following day ready to begin the day.  The eating habits also affect sleep.     

Don’ts of sleep

There is a tendency of sleeping late during the weekdays with intention of recovering the lost sleep over the weekend. As pointed out earlier, lack of enough sleep interferers with the normal functioning of the body.  At times a weekend may not be enough to recover the lost sleep. According to the article One Lie (2010), one study revealed that when one has accumulated sleep, one night’s rest may not be enough to recover. The recovery of lost sleep depends so much on the amount of sleep that one has lost. Healthy sleeping means that one sleeps as required by the body. Failure to have enough sleep means that there will be enough rest and therefore no relation. Insufficient sleep leads to being uneasy, when one is expected to be awake.

Effects of light on sleep

Naturally one is supposed to sleep in a dark room. Natural light is normally bright and has been associated with certain diseases such as cancer. According to Beil, shift work affects the normal running of the body system (Laura “Lights out”). This includes the heart system and even the brain program. For example, when the brain is changed from the natural system it results to anxiety and depression. The origin of all these is lack of sleeping and the absence of a conducive sleeping environment. In order to maintain the natural rhythm of the brain, it is good to have a schedule of a to-do list. A to do list helps one to identify the activities that are supposed to be done in a given day. Once you identify the activities that you are to do, then they can be prioritized. With priorities, the most urgent things are attended to the remainder can be settled later. When the most urgent things have been attended to, then one can postpone the remaining activities for the following day and give them priority. When  there is a to do list that regulates what is to be done, it leaves one with a sense of satisfaction that at least there is something that has been accomplished and the rest of the activities can possibly wait, if they were not accomplished. With this in mind, then it will be possible to go to bed on time, and therefore, retain the normal brain program.   

Conclusion

Sleep is one of the natural phenomena that should not be taken for granted. Sleep is a part of the natural body system that once it has been interfered it could have some side effects. Sleep is very important, especially for students, as they need to rest and relax in order to have a sound academic life.  People have a tendency of postponing sleep especially during weekdays with the aim of recovering over the weekend. This can only work, if the amount of sleep accumulated is given the same amount of time sleep, which was deprived. It is advisable and possible to develop good and healthy sleeping habits. This can be done by creating a favorable sleeping environment. Further, sleep is associated with darkness naturally and affects the brain which, in turn affects the brain programming.