Art: Rebecca Cooke
`The phrase ‘sleeping like a baby’ is one which is commonly said. However it seems somewhat oxymoronic. It is used to denote someone who is sleeping soundly, but look at any new parent and it becomes obvious that sleeping soundly is not what babies actually do. Their child’s lack of toilet manners or perverse sense of humour will ensure anyone in ear shot will be up most of the night.
In many ways it is much the same for students; the stereotype is that as a peer group they do not wake before noon and almost never see the light of day. In many cases it is simply that, a stereotype and in some cases that is a distant dream.
For a surprising number of students, lying in bed with their eyelids peeled firmly back at 4:30am unable to sleep, trying to remember the last time they had a week of undisturbed sleep is an unfortunately familiar scenario.
Depending on which study you look at, between ten to fifteen percent of students suffer from insomnia and the worst is to come, for when the student population enters the real world it is estimated almost one third of them will develop serious problems with insomnia.
This should come as no surprise to anyone; the lives they lead are a veritable breeding ground for insomnia. A great deal of students drink excessive amounts, have irregular sleeping patterns, their rooms and beds are used for anything and everything and moreover, the peace and quiet required for healthy undisturbed sleep is so often denied in a student hall or house.
These are all contributing factors which are said to be bad ‘sleep hygiene’. Scouring the list of strategies for ‘Good Sleep Hygiene’ – a phrase coined to denote healthy sleeping practice – on the university’s insomnia support website it appears that students break nearly all of them. In fact as I write this I myself am breaking a cardinal sin right now, doing work in bed, which is only supposed to be used for sleep and sex.
There is an entire long list of possible causes of irregular sleeping patterns and this should serve as a literal ‘what-not-to-do’ list for anyone who is suffering from insomnia. Some of the tips range from the obvious such as don’t drink caffeine before bed, contrary to the popular belief that a warm cup of tea is soothing.
Some tips however are more informative, for example you should relax 30 minutes before bed to reduce brain activity which means no TV, internet or films. Reading is recommended; as if most students don’t do enough of that already.
After accepting this piece I took it upon myself to start a hugely unscientific experiment to see if I could rediscover perfect sleep by practicing Good Sleep Hygiene. Whilst I have suffered some fairly chronic insomnia in the past year I must say that there has always been something in the way which does not allow me to maintain a regular sleep pattern, either too much drinking or travelling most notably which can be common stresses amongst students.
Knowing I had, and still have coursework coming out of my ears, it seemed like the perfect time to stay in and try to maintain a regular sleep pattern, something I am sure my liver will also thank me for.
The plan was to keep some sort of journal to record my successful sleeping – the best I’d had since I was a child; at least that was the theory.Unfortunately the theory didn’t quite work out in practice and by day three I was up again at four in the morning pondering how I would manage the next day without substantial rest.
However this was not that unusual so I wasn’t too fazed and an unscheduled nap on the front row of a lecture saw me through to the evening, where I then failed to sleep. This was a complete failure then and proved that alcohol and going out was not the root cause of my issues and perhaps the issues of the general student populous.
Having tried Good Sleep Hygiene the question arises whether insomnia is something that really needs solving.It never seems as bad in the morning as when you are actually trying to sleep and think of all that time not being wasted sleeping – after all it is said we spend around a third of our lives sleeping; perhaps this figure is changing.Apart from Faithless’ track, aptly titled Insomnia there have been many songs and films about insomnia and none of them are too jovial.
Those who have seen the film Fight Club will know the disastrous effects of chronic insomnia, and may identify with its protagonist’s claim that when you have insomnia “You’re never really asleep and you’re never really awake.”
Whilst many do not experience such severe symptoms, even mild insomnia can certainly have a largely adverse impact on everyday life.Apart from the obvious of feeling lethargic all of the time and not being able to partake in anything fully, there is the mental drain. It can make you feel just rough, at times neurotic and constantly on edge. On top of this there are the unerring pressures and deadlines of university to consider. It’s simply impossible not to let sleep deprivation affect studying.
On an intuitive level if you cannot concentrate in class then you are probably not going to do as well, presuming you go to lectures when you can sleep of course.A study by James F Pagel MD from the University of Colorado found that out of 64 students those with the lowest GPA’s (average grades), 69.7% had trouble falling asleep, 65% reported waking at night and having trouble falling back to sleep and 72% had trouble concentrating during the day.
Whilst this isn’t the most extensive study ever carried out it does illustrate the detrimental impact that a lack of sleep can have. Canvassing other students it seems that the largest cause is simple stress.
The feeling that there are not enough hours in the day to get what you need done is a common feeling.
According to a 2009 sleep study, students get less sleep around exam periods, despite the fact that this is probably when they need it most.
It is important to avoid the spiral of worrying about exams, which in turns causes a lack of sleep, which then has a detrimental effect on exam results. It is true that this is easier said than done, but it is best to relax.
Statistically there are actually very few people who have issues sleeping because there is something physically wrong with them and as a result you may be instructed to delve deep into your psyche to find the root cause of the problem.Whilst this may sound as appealing as vodka after a heavy night it would probably help in other areas of life too, so is worthwhile exploring.
Ultimately, although it is not something which is advertised when considering a university career, insomnia is a fundamental part of modern life for many students. It is something which will likely have a detrimental effect on daily life and is simply not very nice in general. It should not be ignored therefore, as there are no guarantees it will not become worse.
There is plenty of help out there, starting with the university counselling service website with strategies and further information. Should this not help, a face to face appointment can be booked with the service to explore further the issues which may be of concern so hopefully the need to join Fight Club can be avoided.