With mid-term season upon the University, undergraduates are working into all hours of the night and morning finishing projects, studying for tests and writing papers. Sleep is often a rare commodity at this time of year, and University researchers say such deprivation leads to negative physiological and emotional effects.
Linda Ollis, a clinical trial specialist in psychology and behavioral sciences, said adults should ideally get eight hours of sleep each night, but seven hours is acceptable. Gail Marsh, research director at the Sleep Disorders Center, added that people may trim their sleep "target" time, but cannot drop below about six hours of sleep each night. Such deprivation may lead to fatigue, irritability and poor concentration.
"Typically, the area most strongly affected is mood," said William Wohlgemuth, a clinical associate in psychology and behavioral sciences. "Cognitive activity does [also] become more difficult."
There are several degrees of sleep-deprivation. "If a person is totally sleep-deprived he is better off than being partially sleep-deprived," Wohlgemuth said, adding that partially sleep deprived is defined as less than six hours per night.
Complete sleep deprivation over a few days will lead to extreme effects. The impact levels off after that period of time, with the sleep deprived person feeling less of the effects. Recovery from a week of partial sleep deprivation, however, may take as long as a month.
The only way to overcome the negative effects of sleep deprivation is to sleep regularly. But to dull these effects, some students turn to caffeine and sugary foods to maintain alertness.
"Too much caffeine or caffeine too late in the day will effect the sleep process," Wohlgemuth said. He added that the caffeine can impact the sleep cycle any time after noon.
"Caffeine intensifies the response to stress hormones," explained Richard Surwit, professor of medical psychology. Alcohol should also be avoided, he added.
Alcohol prevents restful, dreaming sleep, explained Marsh, an associate professor of medical psychology .
General sleep research focuses on cognitive, mood and motor skills, whereas many Duke researchers emphasize insomnia. Surwit explained that for students, stress frequently contributes to sleep disorders.
"Even in the face of being tired, you have trouble going to sleep because of anxiety," Marsh said. She added that insomnia becomes a problem when people repeatedly go to bed with anxiety, which eventually trains the mind not to fall asleep when in bed. Surwit suggests yoga, meditation and progressive muscle relaxation to relieve stress.
"They teach you how to control physiological responses to stress. But you must learn the techniques before you try to apply them. They are skills that require practice. They are difficult to learn when you are under stress," Surwit said.
He added that poor time management is often the cause of stress and sleep loss.
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