Being a student can be stressful. Research has shown that lacking sleep can affect poor health and can cause problems like depression and anxiety. Having a healthy sleep routine is essential to stay healthy both mentally and physically.
If your sleep is pretty poor at university then you are not alone. In fact, according to a recent survey, up to 60 per cent of university students report poor quality sleep. This includes not having a good sleeping pattern, finding it difficult to sleep and to stay asleep.
Third-year Kingston University student Kimberly Heaves said: “Sometimes I don’t go to university, I’ll stay in bed partly because of having to keep up with you a job and trying to maintain a social life. This caused me to fall behind.”
Sleep affects your ability to learn a process new information so if you are not getting enough sleep you are likely to affect your grades. Not enough sleep can lead to sleep deprivation which affects your cognitive abilities and memory retention.
Sleep at university is really important because this is the period between childhood and adulthood, and is marked by massive biological and social changes which are considered to last until you are on the ages of 24. During this stage of development, healthy sleeping is vital.
Another Kingston University student said: “Not having enough sleep makes it harder to focus on lectures it means I have to educate my self twice.”
According to a study by nature “sleep after landing stabilises and integrates memories for long-term storage, while sleep prior to learning prepares the brain to retain new information.”
Dr Natheera Indrasenan discusses the benefits of good night sleep and how to achieve one.
She suggests getting into a routine, exercise regularly, avoid eating too soon before going to bed, reduce your caffeine intake, reduce your alcohol intake, quit smoking and relax.
Emma Farr
Balsam Maki
Denise Meriche