Sleep Deprivation and Depression Among College Students

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We all remember our college years, the time where one’s life seemed to begin. Although the partying and new found freedom caused immense satisfaction, it did not go without its all-nighters spent writing term papers, or studying for the biology test you forgot was at 9AM. What many few students seem to recognize however, is that there sudden feelings of hopelessness and all around depression during this new exciting time, is due to their lack of sleep. Sleep is a vital part of the human life. It restores our bodies as well as our minds by conserving and regenerating energy, repairing health problems and organizing our unconscious minds. But what if you’re not getting enough sleep? What if the long drawn out nights of studying and touching up last minute term papers is causing you to only sleep for only a maximum of 4 hours? Students who don’t maintain an adequate amount of sleep are three times more likely to show signs of depression than their well-rested peers. Insufficient sleep has become an epidemic among college students. After conducting a research in which I questioned 15 college students, I discovered that 12 out of the 15 students had admitted to feeling depressed or having felt symptoms of depression. These same students admitted to only having a maximum of 6 hours of sleep per night. The correlation between the two is uncanny. Think back to your college years and the relentless nights spent studying and working on college assignments. The amount of work and studying combined takes an incredible amount of hours out of a student’s day. For most students, these hours impede on their sleep schedule. Seven out of 15 students hold they’re study load responsible for their inadequate amount of sleep. Although the study load required to do well in today’s academic world is vast, it is not entirely responsible for some college students’ lack of sleep. Six out of

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