You know tomorrow is going to suck, and you haven’t hit the hay yet. Maybe that’s because it’s 4 a.m. and you just can’t sleep.

According to an article in College Parent magazine, students averaged 6 to 6.9 hours of sleep a night, far less than the suggested 8 to 9.25 and down from 7 to 7.5 in the 1980s.

In 2000, a study published by the British journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that lack of sleep can be just as impairing as being drunk.

For most of us, the lack of sleep may be self-imposed: studying or partying happens for most of us till the wee hours of the morn’.

However, not getting all your Z’s will catch up with you. People who don’t get enough sleep tend to:

· Lack energy

· Have trouble remembering everyday things

· Get sick more often than people who get enough sleep

· Have problems concentrating at work and school

· Have hallucinations (with immense deprivation)

· And they may have an increased risk for

o Diabetes

o High blood pressure

o Heart problems

o Obesity

And there’s more: Not only does lack of sleep lead to impairment equal to being drunk, it causes vehicle accidents – more than 200,000 a year.

Try to Epworth Sleepiness Scale to see just how sleepy you are (adapted for an average college student, of course). Just rate how likely you would doze off in the following situation:

0 = Would never doze

1 = Slight chance of dozing

2 = Moderate chance of dozing

3 = High chance of dozing

Situation – Chance of Dozing

– Sitting and Reading (Don’t count studying! You might be more likely to fall asleep…)

– Watching the show that follows the O.C.

– Sitting somewhere on campus with an hour to kill.

– Catching a ride home with someone on your floor your not friends with and probably won’t talk to much

– Lying down to “rest your eyes” in the afternoon when your floor/house/apartment is dead silent for once

– Sitting and talking to someone before class starts

– Sitting quietly after lunch

– In your car, while stopping for a few minutes in traffic

If your score is 10 or higher, you need to get some sleep! For a better nights sleep, try:

· Keeping a sleep diary. Finding out the right amount of sleep for you will help you adjust your schedule.

· Adjust your schedule so you go to bed and wake up at the same time. It’s the ideal.

· Get some exercise during the day.

· Try not to take daytime naps. Nothing is better than the real thing.

· Keep your room cold, dark and quiet.

· Use your bed for sleep and sex only.

Good luck resting!

Links/Sources:

http://www.sleepnet.com/depriv.htm

http://www.collegeparentmagazine.com/pn/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=548

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/09/20/sleep.deprivation/

http://www.postgradmed.com/issues/2002/10_02/pn_sleep.htm

http://www.sleepfoundation.org./epworth/quiz.cfm