The Importance of Sleep for Teenagers: Brains Will Not Develop Fully If There is Sleep Deprivation

If food is to body then sleep is to brain. Teens' brains are in critical stage of development and when there is no enough food for it, which is sleep, then the development is curtailed. Studies about sleep deprivation in teens mostly say that young people get problems with sharpness and mood when there is not enough sleep. These are not just short-term problems but may last permanently.

A group of Singaporean researchers compared two groups of high school students before, during, and after a week. Half of this group of students had nine hours sleep per night and the other half had five hours per night. The result is: the sleep-deprived kids manifested impaired cognitive function, decreased alertness, and inconsistent mood over the week.

Among the social classes, the youth seem to be the group that has the busiest lives. They have busy schedules at school and social lives and along with these, they have rapidly changing bodies and wrong views of sleep.

A study says that there are two main factors that affect how sleepy or how alert a teen is or any other person would be. The first is how long it has been since the last time one slept. Such can be called as the sleep-wake balance. Staying awake for too long will turn off the sleep-wake balance, making the person sleepy. The second factor is what most call the internal body clock. Such "clock" controls the "circadian rhythms" in one's body. The term "circadian" refers to the occurrence in a 24-hour cycle. The rhythms are responsible with the feeling of sleepiness or alertness at regular times within each day. The body clock tells you when your bed and pillow are calling you.

When sleep-wake balance and the body clock are both destroyed, a person will have mood swings that can even lead to depression. Because teens are in critical brain development stage, especially from 12 to 18 years of age, most young Americans today have the possibility of growing old with decreased alertness and even intelligence.

To make sure that teens get the most of the natural development of their brains, it would be best to navigate their sleeping habits to the right direction. It would be a great idea as well to have habits like good exercise, reading a book, or stretching/doing yoga before sleeping. Good habits will always lead to good health.