The Consequences Of Poor Sleep In Adolescence
Sleep is an act that we perform automatically every day, something very important to regenerate the mind and body. This is essential for anyone, but especially for those who are in the process of development. For this reason, we have prepared the following article on the consequences of poor sleep in adolescence.
During this stage, young people experience various physical, psychological, emotional and social changes that can also affect the quality of sleep.
The reasons for poor sleep in adolescence
When sleeping, two types of sleep alternate throughout the night:
- NREM sleep: distributed in four phases that go from the transition from sleep-wake to slow-wave sleep.
- REM sleep: also called paradoxical or rapid eye movement sleep.
In this sense, deep slow wave sleep seems to be the most important phase. Since it has the basic function of slowing down brain metabolism and allowing the brain to rest. Additionally, REM sleep is believed to be related to brain development and learning.
These phases can be easily altered during adolescence for reasons related to poor sleep hygiene or the social demands that young students currently have.
Sleep hygiene
Good sleep hygiene involves following a series of practices necessary to maintain a normal state during nighttime sleep and during daytime wakefulness. Thus, the reasons for poor sleep in adolescence can be:
- Unhealthy eating habits, especially at night.
- Do physical exercise before sleeping.
- Consuming certain substances, such as coffee, energy drinks, tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs.
- Watch series or movies until late at night.
- Use the mobile before sleeping.
- Play video games at night.
Social demands
If we think about the high demands that exist in today’s society, it is possible that academic and social demands affect teenagers’ sleep. Many of them attend various extracurricular activities or hang out in the afternoon with their group of friends, and this prevents them from meeting their academic obligations during the day.
In fact, many young students spend their nights up doing homework or student for exams. But, paradoxically, sleeping for a few hours correlates with poor results, since adolescents need optimal levels of sleep quality to obtain and process information properly, thus facilitating the learning process.
The consequences of poor sleep in adolescence
During the school year, adolescents must face an academic day of several hours every day, which may be conditioned by having suffered a bad night the day before. This can lead to various harmful consequences, such as:
- Difficulty attending to the teacher’s explanation.
- Concentration problems when performing tasks.
- Daytime fatigue and tiredness.
- Memory loss.
- Difficulty taking notes without being distracted.
- Social problems.
- Low academic performance or school failure.
- Irritability and mood swings.
- Reduced motivation and energy.
- Deficit in problem solving and decision making.
In short, poor sleep prevents a proper functioning of the body and mind, so that cognitive, motor and mood dysfunctions occur, which can affect daily life. Thus, it is necessary to try to solve the problems of sleep deprivation during adolescence, as these can be aggravated in adulthood.
