Tricia McDuffee

English

April 19, 2020

Sleep or not to Sleep

By Tricia McDuffee

On a cold winter night, there was a group of college kids who just got done studying for a

major test. Their names were Brain, Steven, Bob, and Joey who were all good friends and were

rooming together and once they all got home it was nearing midnight so all the friends decided to

go to bed so that they can get a good night sleep before the test the next day. The test was at ten

in the morning so if all the friends went to bed now, they would get over eight hours of sleep,

which is the recommended amount of sleep that they suggest you get. (Kripke, 2004) All but

Joey went to sleep, they decided to stay up and watch YouTube videos and look at their phone.

What that friend didn’t know was that deciding to do that could hinder them in remembering

what they just learned or their health.

When you decided not to get between 7-8 hours of sleep, you’re putting your health at

risk. Sleep deprivation can cause you to forget or not retain what information that you have

learned that day. Studies have shown that when you get to sleep or take a nap after you can

remember better then if you don’t. (Studte, Bridger and Mecklinger). So, all that information that

Joey put in to remember by studying, he may not remember come tomorrow or have a hard time

at the test. When he decided to watch YouTube videos and be on his phone, he is also keeping

his mind active which make it hard to fall asleep. When you have an active mind when you’re
going to sleep, you have extra simulated that are in your blood stream and are going up the brain

which keeps it active and will have you thinking more and resting. (Neto, Lucio dos Santos,

Silveira campos, damaso and Antunes). With the extra stimuli, that are in your body, can also

affect your central nervous system.

Joey finally fell asleep around four in the morning but before he did, he set his alarm for

eight o’clock in the morning so that he can get a good breakfast before the test. So, he will only

get four hours of sleep verses the eight hours of sleep that the rest of them will have gotten. This

will affect his central nervous system. When the endocrine system, which is the system that

controls the hormone levels in your body can get interrupted. The effect of that is your tissues

can’t repair themselves and lessen the amount of the growth hormone which then leads to less

muscle mass. (Healthline Watson and Cherney) He will not be happy with himself in the

morning since he will feel like he didn’t get enough sleep and doesn’t feel prepared for the test.

Him not getting enough sleep can and sometimes will affect the Psychological aspect of himself.

(Healthline Watson and Cherney)

Anxiety is a very real thing and can affect on how you see yourself and how you perform

on tests or other tasks that are given to you. When anxiety affects you, you can feel jittery and

that you must move. Which can be distracting when you’re taking a test, since you want to put

all your attention on to the test and not have to worry about moving your leg or looking out the

window to help you deal with it. But even with all this happening, he was able to pass his test

with while not the score he wanted but what he needed.

The lesson from this is that you need to get enough sleep so that you can be your best and

do your best. Always try to get the amount of sleep that you need while not everyone can just try

your best and you will be doing your body a favor.

 Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Executive Functioning, Cognitive Abilities, Metacognitive

Confidence, and Decision Making.” Applied Cognitive Psychology, vol. 33, no. 2, Mar. 2019, pp. 188–

200. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1002/acp.3463

Cumpanas, Alin Adrian, et al. “Does Sleep Deprivation Alter Virtual Reality-Based Robotic Surgical

Skills?” Video surgery & Other Miniinvasive Techniques / Wideochirurgia i Inne Techniki Malo Inwazyjne,

vol. 15, no. 1, Jan. 2020, pp. 97–105. EBSCOhost, doi:10.5114/wiitm.2019.90565Aidman, Eugene, et al.

Author Unknown. Sleep Deprivation: Global Prevalence, Dangers and Impacts on Cognitive

Performance. Nova Science Publishers, Inc, 2017. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1453454&site=eds-live

Cherney, Stephanie Watson and Kristeen. The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Your Body. 19 April 2019.

09 March 2020.

TitleWiley Online Library. 22 May 2018. 09 March 2020.