College students are notorious for having irregular sleep schedules, but how does that really affect their health? Everyone knows that sleep is important for physical health, mental clarity, and overall well-being, but that doesn't make it easy to get enough quality sleep every night. Stressors such as exams, social gatherings, extracurriculars, and general life events make maintaining a regular, healthy sleep schedule undeniably difficult for college students, but there are strategies that students can implement to minimize the risks that these factors can have on mental health.
Gardani et al. give a detailed description of how sleep and stressors are interconnected in the lives of college students in "A systematic review and meta-analysis of poor sleep, insomnia symptoms and stress in undergraduate students." The meta-analysis found that stress and sleep quality are bidirectional, meaning that increased stress impairs sleep quality, and lack of good sleep induces more stress. Furthermore, Gardani et al. conclude that symptoms of insomnia can be predicted through stressful life events and academic anxiety. It was also found that students try to negate their lack of sleep through frequent naps, as well as other strategies, but these behaviors were shown to increase the likelihood of perpetual insomnia.
In "Circadian disruption and human health," Zee et al. echo the concerns of Gardani et al. by proposing that people who are affected by light pollution, which is about 99% of the population, are at risk for circadian disruption. They also suggest that the 70% of people who do their work indoors, which includes most college students, are also at risk for this, so in addition to the stressors of a typical college student and the effects those have on one's sleep schedule, students are already doubly more likely to have an irregular sleep schedule due to chronic light pollution and working inside. Zee et al. describe chronotype as "one's preferred timing of sleep and activity" and claim that folks with evening chronotypes, better known as "night owls," are more likely to experience irregular circadian patterns. This is due to their internal circadian mechanisms not lining up with their behavior and sleep schedules. I think most can agree that the vast majority of college students fall under the "night owl" category, which even further sets them up for failure in the realm of having a healthy circadian rhythm.
So, what effect does all of this have on the behavior and mental health of college students? Zee et al. describe delayed sleep-wake phase disorder, which is the increased risk of depressive symptoms when the time of melatonin release and the time when one goes to sleep are not aligned. When studying mice, Zee et al. found that light at unnatural times, as well as other external factors, induce depressive symptoms. It can be reasonably concluded that the odds of college students experiencing depression or depressive symptoms due to these circumstances, also known as "circadian depression," is extremely high.
There are some things students can do to minimize these risks, though. Zee et al. claim that the most important behavior to implement seems to be synchronizing sleep and wake times with the external environment, meaning being awake during and around the times that there is daylight, and sleeping during and around the times when there is no daylight. It was shown that doing this lowered the risk of depression by 23%. Gardani et al. also suggest that sleep-based interventions may also improve sleep quality, such as sleep education and mindfulness, among others. Recommendations from the National Sleep Foundation can also be used to implement better sleep practices.
These two studies outline the dangers of a misaligned circadian rhythm and external environment. Gardani et al. show how lack of sleep can cause unnecessary stress for college students, and, inversely, how an influx of stress can cause a decline in sleep quality and duration. Zee et al. describe how evening chronotypes are at higher risk for an irregular circadian rhythm, and how that can increase symptoms of depression. They also suggest that circadian depression is induced by light exposure at non-daylight hours and the dangers of this exposure. Behaviors to mitigate these risks are also expressed by both studies. College students are undoubtedly fighting an uphill battle when it comes to maintaining proper sleep patterns, but, by implementing healthy behaviors, the battle can be won.
References
Gardani, Maria, et al. "A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Poor Sleep, Insomnia Symptoms and Stress in Undergraduate Students." Sleep Medicine Reviews, vol. 61, 2022, p. 101565., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101565.
Fishbein, Anna B., et al. "Circadian Disruption and Human Health." Journal of Clinical Investigation, vol 131, no. 19, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1172/jci148286.
No comments:
Post a Comment