How to Beat Back to School Blues with Sleep

It is that time of year. You are a college student scouring for pennies for your morning cup of coffee because you stayed up till three in the morning cramming for your exam. You father mumbles about something those brakes you were supposed to check as you run out the door with half your clothes on. On your way you spill half your coffee because the traffic is stop and go and you are late for your class. Your brain is numb from all that cramming, it's a miracle if you even get there on time. Your GPA is marginally accaptable and any dreams you had of getting into that masters program is slowly fading away. Right now your only conern is that you do not fall asleep behind the wheel and crash into someone.

Millions of students all over the world know more about sleep deprivation then their own major. They have to find the time to balance school, studying, work, extracurricular activities, and social life. We sacrifice our sleep to cram as much textbook information into our brain as possible. However, did you know that for every hour you do not sleep at night for a week straight, that's like staying up all night one day a week? This is called "sleep debt". You collect sleep debt like credit card debt. It can take several days or weeks for you to recover from sleep deprivation and you can feel in a constant state for fatigue.

But did you know that getting good quality sleep and getting up bright and early is better for your academic achievement than an all night cram session? In fact according to a study conducted on undergraduate students at the University of North Texas, results indicated that if you are a 'morning person' your GPA is higher than if you are a 'late night owl'. When I first entered this field, I quickly realized that as a student of Polysomnography, I knew one day I'd have to sit through a four hour board exam to become registered. The field of Polysomnography is 80% technical, and 20% clinical. Meaning I had to learn more about filters, calibrations, sensors, formulas, equipment, electroencephalography, skull nomenclature, than about the actual 100 classified sleep disorders. I quickly realized that this wasn't something I could cram all night for at the last minute. Instead, everyday I set aside either a couple hours, or a few minutes to learn something new and review. I also took a review course, paced myself and took my time.

Balancing your life, especially for college students, can be very difficult during these tough economic times and rising tuition. As you learn to manage your time and work for preperation of life outside of school remember that learning healthy sleep habits is just as important.

Let's review what sleep is. In sleep your brain must go through a process to 'defragment' all the memory files you've collected throughout the day in your head. It allows our physical body to rest and our brain to catagorize your daily 'files' that are important and the that ones need to be transfered to the "Trash Bin". To initiate sleep, our brain depends on light and dark because we are wired to sleep at night and stay awake through the day. However, if you are falling asleep during the day that is an alarm that you are not sleeping well. It is especially dangerous if you start dozing off behind the wheel.

Here are some tips from the National Sleep Foundation (www.sleepfoundation.org) plus a few personal tips that worked for me.

1. Sleep at the same time everyday.

Sleep at the same time everyday for 7-9 hrs only, no more no less. Do not sleep until noon. Sleeping too little and too much is bad for you. This will be hard at first, but over a few weeks your body should acclimate.

2. Do not cram the night before.

I confess, I did this and paid for it the next day. I ignored all the college advice that say if you must cram, cram several days or weeks before the exam not the night before. Better idea is to get a study group together a couple times a week and review the information. In groups, you stand a better chance of remembering this information than if you were to memorize it alone. Remember there is power in numbers. Also visuallization, touching, and doing it yourself, you stand a better chance of understanding the information than if you were to read them on flash cards.

3.Night before a major exam

The night of the exam do not touch a book, talk about school, classes, or homework. Eat a good dinner, avoid all caffeine and alcohol. Do a relaxing activity to stimulate sleep and go to bed at a reasonable hour. In the morning before the test, eat breakfast. Even if it is cake.

4.Diet

Eat a healthy, well balanced diet with lots of brain-food like fruits, vegetables, grains, and protein. Make sure you eat regular meals, and/or eat several small meals a day to keep up your energy.

5. Avoid Caffeine

If you are a caffeine addict and want to quit, wean yourfself much like a smoker would. This is what I did. I started out with three cups per day and weaned myself each week or so to one, until I was comfortable enough to switch to decaffinated coffee. But if you must drink caffeine, a boost in the morning is acceptable. However try to avoid all caffeine at least 6 hrs prior to bedtime. Drink a hot cup of herbal caffeine-free tea instead. Or, drink water instead of caffeine and stimulants to ward of fatigue. Caffeine will dehydrate you and make you more tired and also disrupts your sleep pattern at night.

6. Avoid Alcohol.

This is hard for college students. Alcohol may speed up sleep onset but leads to disrupted sleep later and depresses your respiratory drive. It may worsen sleep apnea if you are at risk or if you have been diagnosed or have a family history. If you already are on medications, you should not drink at all.

7. Afternoon slumps.

In the afternoon, your body hits its slump about three o'clock because around four o'clock our body's circadian rhythm, our biological sleep-wake clock, resets itself. Eat a light snack and drink some water instead of that Pepsi.

8. Exercise.

If you do not have time to excersise, walk around the campus or go for a few laps around the track at lunch. Take the stairs instead of the elevators. Bike instead of drive to class. Offer to watch your friend's kids in between classes and chase them around the playground. However, you should not exercise 3 hrs before bedtime.

9. Get regular medical check ups.

Go see your doctor once a year for a physical and to rule out any underlying conditions that may be contributing to your sleep problems. If you are in a lingering slump, depression, or fatigue despite your best efforts, it is also a great opportunity to talk it over with your doctor, and/or nurse, that's what they are there for.

10. Stop Smoking.

Nicotine has been linked to sleep problems. Also, smokers are more likely than non-smokers to suffer from sleep apnea. They also may be more likely to have problems falling asleep, or staying asleep, along with daytime sleepiness. Smokers may also have reduced REM sleep (The dream stage is critical for overall well being.)

11. TV off.

The most important time to turn the TV off is at bedtime. Falling asleep with the TV confuses your brain. The light filters through your eyelids and may make it harder to fall asleep and may wake you up at night. If you need noise, use white noise like a fan or quiet nature sounds, or relaxing soothing music.

12. Prepare your house for sleep.

I dim the lights in the house and quiet the noise level in the evening to get my body ready for sleep. Chemicals in your brain respond to darkness that stimulate the sleep process.

13. Create a bedtime routine for you.

Remember that bedtime routine your mom made you do? How about it? Take a hot bath, read a book, or do a quiet/relaxing activity. However, you should only go to bed when you are sleepy and ready to sleep. Do not read or eat in bed, and especially do not watch TV in bed. If you cannot go to sleep within 15-20 minutes, get out of bed.

If despite your best sleep hygine, you continue to have problems staying awake or concentrating through the day, talk to your physician.

For more information log on to:

National Sleep Foundation

www.sleepfoundation.org

American Academy of Sleep Medicine - Links

http://www.aasmnet.org/Links.aspx

Sleep Disorders for Dummies, by Max Hirshkowitz, Patricia B. Smith, and foreward by William C. Dement, MD. Copyright 2004.

"Morningness a Predictor of Better Grades in College" (http://www.aasmnet.org/Articles.aspx?id=887.. Presented at the 2008 SLEEP Conference for Sleep Professionals at Westchester, Ill.)