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Tips on dealing with sleep deprivation

Posted 12/1/14

To the Editor: Have you ever fallen asleep before your head hits the pillow, put both of your contacts in one eye, mistaken nail polish remover for contact solution, used body wash for shampoo, …

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Tips on dealing with sleep deprivation

Posted

To the Editor:

Have you ever fallen asleep before your head hits the pillow, put both of your contacts in one eye, mistaken nail polish remover for contact solution, used body wash for shampoo, walked out the door in your slippers and not your sneakers, thought it was Friday and it was really Tuesday, or had a friend push you up the stairs due to physical exhaustion?

Welcome to the life of a sleep deprived SUNY Potsdam college student. Each student, at one point in their lives, has stated these words “When will I ever use this material after graduating college?”

A topic this detrimental to your health is something every individual in the United States should strive to comprehend in order to battle serious health conditions later in life.

Did you know: Ways to Combat Sleep Deprivation (According to Dr.Mercola)

Maintain a routine sleep schedule. Going to bed at the same time each night can reassure proper sleeping habits. An individual should get a minimum of 7-9 hours of sleep per night.

Remain in complete darkness for the entire night. This includes refraining from activities requiring light such as watching T.V., sitting in front of the computer screen, reading with lamps, and cellphones. All of these forms of light can contribute to a deficiency in melatonin.

Decrease the Electro Magnetic Radiation (EMR) field in the bedroom. Sleeping in a room jam-packed of electronic devices can interrupt hormone balance and overwhelm nightly melatonin construction. It is essential to remain 3-5 feet away from household magnetic fields to aid in the reduction of nightly hormone imbalance. Reminder: Cell phones should never be carried next to the body.

Reserve the bedroom for sleep only. It is best to avoid completing homework or other activities in bed. This will make it harder to fall asleep or relax when it is time for bed.

Eat a high protein snack a couple hours before going to bed. The high protein snack provides the L-tryptophan needed for melatonin and serotonin production.

Put homework/studying material away one hour before bedtime. In this hour, your mind will get a chance to unwind from the day and become less anxious about important deadlines of schoolwork.

Avoid alcohol. On average, over 76% of students that drink exhibit poor sleeping habits (Clevenger, 2013). Alcohol is a depressant but the effect is short lived and often keeps you from entering the deeper stages of sleep.

Make exercise a daily component in your life. Exercising a minimum of 30 minutes a day will help improve your nightly sleep habits. Don’t exercise too close to bedtime as this may have a reverse affect and keep you up.

According to the National Institute of Health, as many as 70 million Americans may be affected by chronic sleep loss or sleep disorders. Sleep deprivation is not a disorder your mother can particularly prepare you for when walking out into the real world.

It is also not something you learn in a college algebra class that we all dread going to. I’m sure that we can all agree that college life in general is an extremely nerve-racking experience.

We spend countless hours at night cramming for exams, preparing a PowerPoint for an oral presentation, and even procrastinating on our homework assignment that is due at midnight. All of these activities overwhelm your body and make you a sleep-deprived candidate.

Today’s the day college students to let go of the stressors from your life and catch some more ZZZ’s in return.

Elissa St. Germain

SUNY Potsdam student