5 minute read
Snooze
Text and design by KATHERINE BUECHELER, RACHAEL VONDERHAAR and EUNICE CHO • Art by NATALIE SCHILLING
An ongoing struggle for many teenagers is maintaining a healthy, balanced sleep cycle. But the factors essential in achieving high quality sleep are often dismissed. Common substances—such as marijuana, alcohol, and melatonin—can affect our vital sleep cycles.
In 1964, high school student, Randy Gardener, participated in a sleep study at age 17 and stayed awake for 11 days and 25 minutes in one sitting period, according to a study written in Science Alert. Researchers documented him displaying extreme sleep deprivation and cognitive and behavioral changes. Among his symptoms were moodiness, concentration issues, short term memory, hallucinations and paranoia.
On the 11th day of the study, he was asked to subtract seven from one hundred repeatedly. When he stopped at 65, the researchers asked why he stopped and he said that he had forgotten what he was doing. The night after the study, he slept for about 15 hours and eventually recovered from his sleep deprivation.
Doctor Michelle Primeau, a sleep specialist, has been working with children over the age of five at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) since 2014. Primeau has spoken at numerous high schools about the importance of sleep for teenagers. “Sleep deprivation can weaken a teenager’s attention, concentration, athletic performance and their ability to learn,” Primeau said. There are various ways to accelerate the process of falling asleep, some of which are avoiding bright lights and electronics, and getting out of bed if you are wide awake. Jane Varner, a family doctor at PAMF, believes that the quality of one’s sleep routine is reflected in the quality of their sleep. “There are really compelling studies looking at people’s brain activity while they’re asleep after they have looked at their laptop right before bed,” Varner said. “After they have gone to sleep looking at their iPhone or their computer, and they find that their brains are very active.” Having this active brain during the night increases the likeliness of waking up during the night. “We always say no blue light screens within two or three hours of going to sleep,” Varner said.
“ People die faster from lack of sleep than lack of food and water.” -Dr. Jane Varner, M.D. David Snyder, another junior at Paly, has a presleep routine that—unlike many his age—does not include blue light. “I don’t put my phone in my room which helps me not look at it when my friends spam me,” Snyder said.
Amayah Chang, a sophomore at Paly, has tried a variety of strategies to help herself fall asleep earlier in the night, including eliminating blue light, but has not been successful. “I’ve tried lights off an hour before I sleep, I’ve tried to not go on electronics before I sleep, I’ve tried music, and a lot of other calming habits but none have worked,” Chang said. “The only thing I have ever found a little beneficial is a drowsy medication like melatonin to help me sleep quicker.”
Primeau finds that melatonin is best used to alter the time one sleeps rather than to help them fall asleep. “Melatonin can actually be very beneficial for teenagers,” Primeau said. The main purpose of melatonin is to allow people to fall asleep at the desired earlier time so they get drowsy at an earlier time the following days, and eventually be able to fall asleep without the aid. Along with this, melatonin can be used to achieve a more consistent sleeping time—which is imperative for teenagers. “The most important thing is really that you need to keep the same wake-up time, every day, even on weekends, and even on break,” Primeau said.
Caffeine is the most commonly used drug in the world. Whether it’s for the taste or the energy boost, drinking coffee is a part of many everyday routines. For some, primarily teenagers, caffeine is often used as a substitute for sleep. Along with blocking sleep-inducing chemicals and increasing adrenaline levels, consumption of caffeine can be highly destructive to one’s sleep cycles and general health.
Doctor Michelle Primeau finds that many underestimate the length of time caffeine is present in one’s system. “The half-life of caffeine is around six hours,” Primeau said. This is the amount of time it takes for half of the caffeine consumed to be eliminated from the system. In addition to this, the effects of caffeine on the brain become more drastic the closer it is consumed prior to bedtime. “Consumption of caffeine not only makes it difficult to fall asleep, but it also affects the quality of sleep,” Primeau said. Caffeine often prevents the brain from entering the stage of deepest sleep, which can greatly affect the consciousness of the brain the following day. Even if you are able to fall asleep after drinking coffee, studies have shown that after consumption, deep sleep decreased by 20 percent. While the detrimental effects of caffeine on sleep are more easily identified, other substances have effects on sleep that are less apparent but have the same level of negative impacts. While many believe that consumption of substances, specifically alcohol and marijuana, increases relaxation and the release of sleep-inducing chemicals, many dismiss the counterproductive effects these substances can have in one’s long term sleep cycle.
Consistent usage of marijuana before sleep can cause marijuana withdrawal syndrome. “This can cause bloody noses and crazy dreams,” Primeau said. The body is ultimately disrupted after consistent use that is broken.
Along with the effects of withdrawal, drinking alcohol can restrict the brain from entering the deep sleep that allows for memory formation and learning. Alcohol is also known to block REM sleep, which can result in groggy and unfocused feelings the following day.
According to Chris Farina, an AP Psychology teacher at PALY, drinking alcohol before going to bed does not actually allow for quality sleep. “The biggest thing about alcohol is that it does slow your body’s functioning down, so you may think that that would be like a good thing to have as a nightcap, but it blunts your central nervous system,” Farina said. Consumption of alcohol, in order to sleep, can seem like a solution to not being able to sleep, but just like caffeine, it prevents deep sleep as well as REM sleep.
Adapting to a consistently healthy sleep persists to be a major challenge—especially for high school students. As we grow older and gain more responsibility, it is imperative for us to take a step back and make our sleep a priority. “The one final thing that I will say is that we know that people die faster from lack of sleep than lack of food and water,” Varner said. “So there you have it, sleep is vitally important.”
