Rx: A Good Night's Sleep

"Our study represents one of the largest to date that shows this link, and it shows that the more nights of insufficient sleep you get as a college student, the more likely that you will exhibit a wide range of mental health symptoms."

"The fact that sleep health was so strongly related to mental health is important since the majority of college students don't get the recommended amount of sleep needed for optimal health and functioning."

"So, these young adults aren't sleeping enough, and not only does that increase their likelihood for things like worse academic performance and health, but it also takes a toll on their mental health as well."
Dr. Michael Grandner, director, Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic, University of Arizona, Tucson

"What I thought was striking was the number of students they were able to study and the strong relationship between insufficient sleep and multiple domains of mental health."
"This is an important finding as mental health problems are common in this age group, and unfortunately insufficient sleep is also very common in this group."
"This study would suggest that healthcare providers and universities should put more emphasis on getting adequate amounts of sleep to not only help [with] overall physical health, but [also] mental health."
Dr. Raman Malhotra, associate professor of neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St.Louis, Missouri

DepositPhotos

"It was really surprising to see how strongly insufficient sleep was associated with a wide variety of mental health symptoms among college students."
"Also, it was intriguing that while student-athletes experienced on average fewer nights of insufficient sleep and better mental health, the relationship between insufficient sleep and mental health was as strong or stronger in athletes compared to non-athletes."
lead author Thea Ramsey, undergraduate student, University of Arizona, Tucson

That college and university students don't get enough sleep is not unknown; it is, in fact, universally acknowledged. Lack of sufficient sleep doesn't benefit anyone. People under pressure to perform cerebral functionality, much less physically, will fail to perform optimally when they're tired physically and their brains haven't been refreshed through adequate sleep. The link with health has been long known and people are often informed of the harm they're doing to their well-being with sleep deficits.

New research findings were brought forward at the June 11 annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, emphasizing that with each night of inadequate sleep a roughly 20 percent risk of mental health symptoms arises. Undergraduate student Thea Ramsay, lead author in the study, interpreted the findings as fuel for a recommendation that college students would benefit enormously from sleep health education.

Ms. Ramsey and her advisor Dr. Grandner and colleagues studied data derived from over 110,000 students through the National College Health Assessment, defining "insufficient sleep" as nights students missed having adequate sleep, resulting in feeling rested. The result of their analysis of this data led to the conclusion that inadequate sleep linked to a 19% to 29% increase in mental health symptoms.

Their findings presented at Sleep 2019, focused on statistics such as loneliness increasing by 19% for each night of inadequate sleep; depressed mood by 21%; anxiety by 25%; desire to inflict self-harm increased by 25%; suicidal thoughts increased a whopping 28%, and exhaustion 29%, aside from other, related evaluated symptoms of ill health resulting from sleep deficits.

A subgroup of close to 8,500 students' data was examined as well by the researchers leading to similar associations, despite Ms. Ramsey having anticipated differences in athletes' response to insufficient sleep might be found. Instead, the studied data failed to support any difference between the two groups in deleterious effects resulting from insufficient sleep.

According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, adults 18 years and older should aim for at least seven hours or more nightly of good, sound sleep to avoid outcomes as diverse as weight gain, to the sleep-debt-linked onset of critical health conditions. The research presented on June 11 at Sleep 2019 was published online in the journal Sleep.

When an individual does not get enough sleep to feel awake and alert, they begin to experience symptoms of sleep deprivation.

The main symptom of ongoing sleep loss is excessive daytime sleepiness, but other symptoms include:

• yawning
• moodiness
• fatigue
• irritability
• depressed mood
• difficulty learning new concepts
• forgetfulness
• inability to concentrate or a "fuzzy" head
• lack of motivation
• clumsiness
• increased appetite and carbohydrate cravings
• reduced sex drive

 Medical News Today

• Not getting enough sleep prevents the body from strengthening the immune system and producing more cytokines to fight infection. This can mean a person can take longer to recover from illness as well as having an increased risk of chronic illness.
• Sleep deprivation can also result in an increased risk of new and advanced respiratory diseases.
• A lack of sleep can affect body weight. Two hormones in the body, leptin and ghrelin, control feelings of hunger and satiety, or fullness. The levels of these hormones are affected by sleep. Sleep deprivation also causes the release of insulin, which leads to increased fat storage and a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.
• Sleep helps the heart vessels to heal and rebuild as well as affecting processes that maintain blood pressure and sugar levels as well as inflammation control. Not sleeping enough increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Insufficient sleep can affect hormone production, including growth hormones and testosterone in men.