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Ryan Scales Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English (1102) 10/23/13 Dont Skip on the Zzzs Introduction The sun begins to peek through the clouds as it starts to ascend from the horizon, on what appears be the birth of a great day. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee has my senses heightened as I sit perched on the edge of a nearby pier. Seagulls are soaring above, dolphins are dancing in the ocean, fathers are fishing with their sons and waves are crashing onto the pier docks to make an ever-so blissful sound; everything is perfect. I then start to hear a noise from afar. Starting from the background and excessively getting louder. I soon realize that I cannot move and everything around me is slowly fading away. As my brain starts to get kicked back into reality, I try to fight to stay in this world of perfection, but I cannot. The noise is now practically beating in my head. Immediately I arise from an unawaken state and simply sigh and hit the snooze button; its time for another day to begin. As I climb out of a cloud of pillows and comforters, I slowly stumble my way over to the shower. I let the soothing hot water pour onto my body while doing my best to stay upright and force myself awake. I finally take a step out, pat myself dry, and go about my morning routine. A whole day sits ahead of me and I could not be more tired. We have all had mornings were waking up almost seemed inevitable. Hoping the alarm clock will magically turn its hands back a few extra hours just to give us the bare minimal amount of energy we need to go about our day. We finally force ourselves to break the barrier of darkness our eyes have been so-long holding onto and open them to a society that demands

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attentiveness in practically every area. While observing this drowsiness, sleeplessness and ineffectiveness behavior we commonly reflect throughout the day, concerned me on how we go to sleep every night. The routines and activities we choose to participate in, as well as the quality and quantity of sleep we get plays a critical role in the behavior our body imitates throughout the day. Lacking the appropriate amount of sleep our bodies need is as crucial and harmful to us as not getting enough nutrients in a day. Sleep deprivation will soon be known as the new silent killer if it does not get the attention it deserves. Physically, we become weak, mentally, we become unstable, and emotionally, we become irritable. Our culture improperly views sleeping as just an activity that well get to at the end of the day; when our body virtually demands it. When in fact, it leads to numerous health issues and is producing a population of unproductive behavior. The Big Picture More than eighty-five sleep disorders have been recognized by the American Sleep Disorders Association (Breus). As sleep deprivation continues to be overlooked day in and day out all throughout the world today, the numbers continue to rise. An estimated 50-70 million U.S. adults have a sleep or wakefulness disorder that most, if not all of them, dont even know they have (Science). These people seem to never know that they have been sleep deprived all their life. They are either too used to feeling this way or they simply put blame on something else to excuse their lack of energy. Parents will put fault toward their children that kept them up all night or a college student might put blame on an exam he/she has to cram for the night before. To break it down even more, up to one third of Americans have symptoms of insomnia but yet only 10% of those are identified by primary-care doctors (Breus). Its as if the doctors arent even seeing the severity of this problem. In an instance where someone would visit their

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physician, they are very rarely asked about their sleep behavior. The doctors arent putting any emphasis on this issue when in retrospect it is feeding the fires of several deaths across the country. Having poor sleep patterns have been known to link to obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, and several other health concerns, but even then no one is taking action. Dr. Michael J. Breus, a clinical psychologist and both a representative of the American Board of Sleep Medicine and of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, stresses that chronic sleep deprivation significantly affects your health, performance, safety, and even pocketbook. He emphasizes that an individual with irregular sleep behavior will experience a decrease in their performance alertness as well as impairment to their memory and cognitive judgment. Sleep deprivation brings about many other symptoms of discomfort that often go overlooked as well. It is known to build on to the stress in our lives; resulting in more relationship problems and automobile/occupational accidents. Having good sleep hygiene habits is understood to be the key role in preventing sleep deprivation. Sleep hygiene is related to the nightly procedure each and every one of us do every night. Going to bed at the same time every night with getting the necessary hours seems like an impossible task. Fifty years ago, we slept 20% more than we do today (Science). Although that percentage may not seem alarming, its better understood in terms of time. Someone who got eight hours in the 1960s would get about six and half hours in 2013. We only have so much time in a day, what we chose to do with it is vital. Obviously spending more time awake during the day only leads to less sleep at night. Artificial lights, eating the wrong foods and contributing in certain late-night activities have been known to affect our sleep cycle.

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The Science of Appropriate Sleep When the human body finally gets to shutting down at the end of the day, it goes under many operations while we are asleep. Before the 1950s, physicians thought our mind shut down when we went to sleep (Science). Because the research of sleep deprivation is in its infancy, theres this misperception that our body and brain are in a state of rest when we are asleep. This may be true for our body as our muscles are in a stage of growth and repair, however, our brain is actually still very much active. The brain goes through three or sometimes four stages that could easily become disrupted leading to a restless morning. The stages of brain activity are broken into different estimated periods of time that vary on certain measures. The transition to sleep stage, or N1 stage, is a very vital phase in the process of going to sleep. Although the average person falls asleep in relatively five to seven minutes, many factors can get in the way of this process. The eyes will slowly move back behind the eyelids as the muscle activity slows down, but the individual can still be easily awakened. In a case where someone does not consume any stimulants, alcohol, or other sleep-altering inhibitors, the N1 stage is the shortest stage before entering true sleep. True sleep is when the human body transitions to the next stage, N2 or the light sleep stage. Neuropsychologists consider this stage as when we truly enter sleep. It generally lasts fifteen to twenty-five minutes as the eyes cease movement, the heart rate drops, and the body temperature decreases. Similar to the N1 stage, the individual is still susceptible to being disturbed fairly easy. The last stage, N3 or deep sleep phase, is when the human body has fully fallen sleep. It is difficult to awaken someone in this stage, as the brain is very relaxed in a state of comfort. If an individual is disrupted during this stage, they will awaken felling irritated, groggy, and

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disoriented for several minutes. Since this is the deepest stage of sleep, before dreaming occurs, brain waves are extremely slow as blood flow is directed away from the brain. Most of the blood flow goes directly to the muscles to allow them to repair from a long days work and to restore physical energy. After the human body has been at ease for approximately an hour to an hour and half, brain activity increases and dreaming occurs. This is known as REM sleep or rapid eye movement dream sleep. This phase is not always reached when an individual goes about their sleeping process. However, if it is reached, the eyes start to move rapidly, respirations in the lungs become shallower, and the heart rate and blood pressure begin to increase. To some physicians, this is when a light version of sleep paralysis can occur. The arms and legs are basically paralyzed because of the activity and focus the body has on the brain. The problem with sleep deprivation in our society really is simple; people are not informed or rather, they just dont care. The people who dont care about getting a good night sleep are only hurting themselves at the end of the day. They are so accustomed to living their life with poor sleeping habits that it would almost be a burden for them to make a change. Due to the mindset of these people not caring about their sleep behavior will only continue to hurt themselves without noticing it. Maintaining an appropriate late-night routine with getting the necessary hours every night is just putting it in simple terms. These preparations are barely even breaking the ice when regarding the issue of sleep deprivation and the affects it has on the human body as well as how society is reflected as a whole. For those of us who have been on an airplane and experienced jet lag know the feeling of foreign behavior our body reflects. In scientific terms, our circadian rhythm is throw off; our biological clock

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Shut the Lights Off Humans have evolved in many different areas in both physiological aspects as well as behavior aspects. We have picked up numerous habits that are slowly affecting us in ways we dont understand. One custom that our society is starting to display is that we need technology. From laptops to cell phones to tablets, its evolving at a rate we cant even measure. Since technology is more intervened in our lives than ever before, it is affecting our sleeping behavior as well. Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland in the brain that helps your sleep and wake cycles (Melatonin). Melatonin is always flowing in the chemical composition of our brain and when suppressed can throw off our circadian rhythm. The circadian system is basically what allows us to stay awake during the day and go to bed at night. This circadian rhythm, or internal clock, regulates our human behavior in light and dark cycles. When this balance is thrown off, such as with a lack of melatonin, sleep is affected greatly. When our circadian rhythm reaches the point where it is time to shut down and prepare for sleep, melatonin levels increase significantly. The issue with technology is that it is affecting us as we are going about our nightly routine. How many of us have been in bed on our cell phones, laptops or e-book? Its almost woven into our routine. The LED lights or blue light in most of these devices have been known to decrease the levels of melatonin in the brain. Having this decrease in melatonin leads us to be restless during the night. Although it may not show significance to everyone, its More Than Just Sleep The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates conservatively that each year drowsy driving is responsible for at least 100,000 automobile crashes, 71,000 injuries, and 1,550 fatalities (Breus). Drowsy driving never seems to be understood as a threat in

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society, when in actuality, its worse than driving intoxicated. People are forcing their bodies to stay attentive during the day due to their lack of sleep the previous night. The problem is here, people arent getting enough sleep. Whether from staying up all night watching TV or getting off work really late, excuses will come about from all directions. However, the only person to blame for a restless sleep is the restless person. It is the responsibility of an individual to take accountability for their health, with sleep included. Children are learning about nutrition and exercise in grade school, but yet nobody is teaching them anything about the importance of sleep. As a culture, we need to accept that better sleep has to be a priority to our health.