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Put bad sleeping habits to bed

By Adam Paunic
Special to the Northern Light

Having trouble sleeping at night? You aren’t the only one. A recent study by the National Sleep Foundation found that 60 percent of all Americans experience sleep problems.

Midterm season just passed and with term papers and final exams around the corner, many students face additional pressures and stress that can keep them awake at night. Candace Norris, a Student Health Center nurse practitioner, said she sees about 10 to 15 students a semester who complain of sleep trouble.

“Sleep goes to the core of how we function on all levels,” said Norris.

Less than eight hours of regular sleep a night can seriously affect students’ daily functions.

“Often times students cannot concentrate, have trouble staying awake, and their appetites may be effected,” Norris said.

Those who have sleep problems should practice good sleep hygiene, which involves exercising and avoiding naps during the day. Students who set regular hours for sleep each night, and keep them, will retain information better and stay focused in a lecture instead of spending that time fighting to stay awake, Norris said.

Even more serious than nodding off in class, a lack of healthy sleep can slow your reaction time when driving a car or operating heavy machinery.

“Sleep deprivation effects cognitive performance, retention and memory skills,” said Bruno Kappes, a University of Alaska Anchorage psychology professor.

Kappes has been teaching at UAA for 26 years, and cited studies showing that sleep deprivation contributed to the majority of large industrial accidents, including the Chernobyl disaster and the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Students suffer from a problem that has larger ramifications, he said.

“In America, we have a sleep debt greater than the national debt,” Kappes said.

Studies show that exercising 30 minutes a day can help you fall asleep faster; exercise slows your body down, allowing you to unwind and tire.

A particularly bad practice is eating meals before bedtime.

Eating large, fatty or spicy meals right before bed not only causes indigestion but can make for a rough night of tossing and turning. The Providence Hospital Sleep Disorders Center recommends eating before your scheduled bedtime to allow for food to settle and break down.

The center said that in more extreme cases, laying off caffeine, nicotine and alcohol can significantly assist in getting back on a sleeping schedule.

Kappes said the most important thing students can do for themselves is consistently wake up at the same time every day, no matter what time they go to bed.

The body requires at least two hours of uninterrupted sleep to enter the dream state, known as Rapid Eye Movement. Once your body reaches this period, it only remains for moments and then returns to normal sleep. The body enters REM sleep every 90-100 minutes in the sleep cycle.

During a healthy night of sleep it is important for the body to reach as many REM stages as possible, the most regenerative stage of the sleep cycle, Kappes said.

Studies reveal that sleepers consistently disturbed before reaching REM were more irritable, irrational and unfocused during the day, he said.

Don’t turn into the cranky classroom napper, set a good sleep schedule and stick to it.