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Sleep is a universal ordeal for teens, and something that should be talked about more. Sleep is something that we don’t necessarily look at as being in our daily schedule. We kinda just know that it’s there and don’t have to write it down and plan around it. It’s something we all do. Whether or not we get the amount of sleep we should, we all sleep.
The Cleveland Clinic says, “With all the demands on our time every day, you might put a good night’s rest at the bottom of your priority list. But Dr. Drerup says we need to schedule adequate time for sleep.”
According to Healthline, seven to nine hours is the recommended time of sleep for adults ages 18+. After several periods in life of getting both eight hours of sleep and not getting that much, I’ve definitely seen a difference in several things. Some examples are the effects on my social life and my mental health.
After so long of operating on five to six hours of sleep a night, you feel as though your body gets used to it. However, studies have shown that you don’t
actually “get used to it.” Your body knows what is going to happen in the daily routine and adjusts to fit your most essential needs. And over time, you become used to that routine, and to you, you feel normal.
However, going from a routine of five to six hours of sleep a night to seven to eight, sometimes even reaching nine hours of sleep, is like a night and day difference. Before, you think you feel alert and awake, but then after a longer sleep routine, going back to those few hours feels like you fell into a deep hole and can’t get out for the rest of the day.
The time periods in my life where I didn’t get much sleep, I thought I felt fine. It wasn’t until after I got out of that habit that I realized my life wasn’t entirely the way I had thought it had been. I wasn’t as happy as I thought I was, I wasn’t as friendly as I wished I’d been, I wasn’t as focused as I told myself I was, and my memory wasn’t at all where it had been.
Now, I’m honestly not sure that I would call myself a “social” person. I mean, I’ll talk to whoever is there and be friendly towards them, but I’m not one to go out and be the first to interact. I’ve got my circle of close friends and that’s all I really need.
