The Student News Site of Colorado State University

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

The Student News Site of Colorado State University

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

The Student News Site of Colorado State University

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Print Edition
Letter to the editor submissions
Have a strong opinion about something happening on campus or in Fort Collins? Want to respond to an article written on The Collegian? Write a Letter to the Editor by following the guidelines here.
Follow Us on Twitter
Crypto Exchange Listing: Types of Exchanges and Compliance Requirements
March 25, 2024

The crypto industry continues to evolve, fueled by the increasing institutional adoption of crypto. Today, numerous companies are entering the...

Get some sleep, your body will thank you

Geneva Mueller
Geneva Mueller

We’ve all heard it, the phrase that is becoming the proverb of our generation: “You can sleep when you’re dead.”  Sometimes it genuinely feels like we, as overburdened and overwhelmed college students, have to make the choice between getting the sleep that our bodies are begging us for or spending quality time with your friends or with your homework.

At this point in our lives, time is our greatest resource. And we are constantly making decisions about how to allocate this resource. But at least for me, when it feels like I’m getting pulled in fifteen different directions by various responsibilities and individuals, sleep generally gets put on the back burner. It is really easy to justify putting other responsibilities or activities in front of sleep because it seems like there’s always something better or more important to be doing. But this past week, I had the enlightening experience of sleeping through my alarm every single morning. No matter how loudly or how frequently my phone screamed at me, there was no waking me up on time.

Ad

Despite being disgruntled, disoriented and just generally frustrated that I had wasted more than my average amount of time sleeping, I realized that my body was sending me a message. As inconvenient as it is to not be super-humans that can naturally function on only a few hours of sleep a night, the fact of that matter is that during sleep, our bodies are able to recover and recharge.

Our bodies do actually have internal clocks that are largely controlled by changing levels of chemicals that control when we feel awake and when we need to sleep. Although there are some physical cues such as the amount of light that we are exposed to and the amount of human interaction that we are confronted with, these chemicals largely control our sleep cycle. Most people have a sleep schedule that conforms to a 24-hour rhythm known as the circadian rhythm. We have engineered many ways to interfere with this rhythm — ahem, caffeine. When left alone to function naturally, our bodies would largely control themselves, forcing us to sleep and to wake as necessary.

Many of us live in a constant state of sleep deprivation. But if our sleep debt — the total amount of sleep lost each night — gets too high, our bodies lose their ability to perform crucial functions. While sleeping, our bodies are able to repair and build bone and muscle and strengthen the immune system. During REM sleep, the brain is almost as active as when we are awake and some of the major muscle groups become paralyzed to keep us from acting out our dreams. These things can’t happen if we aren’t getting enough sleep and, interestingly enough, studies show that people don’t ever adjust to getting less sleep than is necessary.

Sleep deprivation has been proven to decrease the cognitive capacity of the brain and can impair our ability to make decisions. So when we’re cramming for a test, we’re actually being really counterproductive as well as unhealthy.

It’s that time of the semester. Everything has settled in, the weather is starting to heat up, friendships are really tight and, inconveniently enough, it is getting to be about crunch time in school. Let’s remember to take care of ourselves, Rams. Because if you don’t take the initiative and sleep in normal intervals at the appropriate times, our bodies will make that decision for us at the most inconvenient of times.

Geneva Mueller has recently discovered the beauty of sleep. Feedback can be sent to letters@collegian.com.

In Brief:

We get lost in the hustle of our everyday lives, and tend to lose out on sleep.

Your body need REM; you will function a lot better.

Ad

Take care of yourself, or your body will decide to do it for you.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

When commenting on The Collegian’s website, please be respectful of others and their viewpoints. The Collegian reviews all comments and reserves the right to reject comments from the website. Comments including any of the following will not be accepted. 1. No language attacking a protected group, including slurs or other profane language directed at a person’s race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social class, age, physical or mental disability, ethnicity or nationality. 2. No factually inaccurate information, including misleading statements or incorrect data. 3. No abusive language or harassment of Collegian writers, editors or other commenters. 4. No threatening language that includes but is not limited to language inciting violence against an individual or group of people. 5. No links.
All The Rocky Mountain Collegian Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *