sleep: teen mental health
Nine hours of sleep is sufficient for most teenagers. Sadly, very few actually manage that. In reality, surveys show that less than 9 percent of adolescents get enough rest. And the amount of rest they’re receiving declines as they advance through high school.
What’s stopping teens from getting the rest they need? A variety of factors, including the use of technology, caffeine intake, heavy homework loads, extracurricular activities and early schooling. In fact, teenagers undergo a change in their internal biological clocks after puberty; their circadian rhythms usually keep them up later in the night.
Research has shown a clear link between sleep deprivation and adolescent depression and anxiety. In a survey of nearly 28,000 high school students, scientists found that every hour of sleep loss was associated with a 38 per cent increase in the risk of feeling sad or helpless and a 58 per cent increase in suicide attempts. Another research found that high school seniors were three times more likely to have extreme symptoms of depression if they had excessive sleepiness during the day.
In addition, lack of rest will wreak havoc with adolescents ‘ already volatile emotions. In studies conducted at the University of Arkansas, people who had lost their shuteye at night reacted with more emotion to the stressors posed in the study, leading researchers to believe that sleep deprivation had a negative impact on the functioning of the brain’s emotional regulation circuit.
It means that an adolescent who gets less shuteye is more likely to have extreme emotional responses to everyday events. Such results are particularly troubling as adolescents are already at risk of poor emotional self-regulation; prefrontal cortex – the portion of the brain that regulates self-regulation – is underdeveloped in adolescents. Failure to rest properly adds fuel to the fire.
Along with the regulation of emotions, the prefrontal cortex also regulates the functioning of the executive – decision-making and impulse control. As a result, adolescents who get less rest tend to engage in risky behaviors more often than not.
Research shows that chronic lack of proper rest will increase the likelihood of adolescents using drugs and alcohol. A 2015 study found that sleeping problems and hours of rest can predict a number of dangerous teenage habits, including binge drinking, drunk driving and unprotected sex. As such, the importance of proper sleeping, especially for teenagers, cannot be overemphasized.
Get up each day at the same time. A consistent schedule of rest will help teens to regulate their rhythms of sleep. If they sleep on weekends later, it should only be more than usual for an hour or so.
Whenever possible, take naps. Midday naps and other short rests bursts are recommended by sleep experts. Studies actually show that deep sleep can help us to function optimally, even if it’s only a half hour nap.
Unplug earlier because smartphones, along with keeping teenagers occupied late into the night, distract from sleep through the artificial light they emit, which activates more cortisol (the hormone that causes the brain to be alert and productive) than the sun itself.
Exercise. Research shows that if you get at least 150 minutes of exercise a week, people rest significantly better and feel more alert during the day.
Keep off night sugar. Sugar destabilizes our levels of glucose, producing an energy explosion. This is accompanied by a decrease in blood sugar, which in effect triggers adrenaline and cortisol release – waking us up in the wee hours.
Such activities – regular exercise, limiting sugar intake and reducing mobile usage – together with improving healthy relaxation patterns, all produce additional mental health benefits independent of their positive sleep effects. With teens, it’s a win-win.