Why Teens Need More Sleep Than They Get

So, a common case scenario.

The night before school, you're lying in bed texting your best friend. You guys had an amazing day out and even though you promised yourself you'd go to bed at ten o'clock, the conversation is too good to pass up. Eventually, you fall asleep at 12:14 and end up waking up at 6:30 like you always do and it's awful. You're drowsy, tired, bleary eyed and not in the mood. Nearly half dead, you've gotten yourself out of bed, struggled to get yourself ready and found your way to school. Throughout the entire day you find yourself struggling to pay attention for more than thirty minutes, taking naps at intervals and getting in trouble with at least two teachers for falling asleep.

Sound familiar?

That's because it is. Only 15% of teenagers admit to getting at least 8 to 10 hours of sleep a night, and the rest who don't, have attributed their lack of sleep to their low moods and depressive spells.
The effects of lack of sleep in teenagers can range from feeling hopeless, moody, aggressive or becoming more prone to anger. As well as memory loss and  the body producing too little of the human growth hormone that you produce more of when you're younger. So, in short, you're missing out on the golden elixir of youth that only lasts a while.
Teens and adolescents who get less than eight hours of sleep also contribute to about 70% of car crashes and unfortunately it doesn't stop there.
Struggling with skin acne and pimples that keep coming up out of nowhere? You have your sleep patterns to blame. Lack of sleep causes the body to produce more of the stress hormone cortisol which breaks up the skin collagen - the protein that's supposed to keep your skin feeling smooth and elastic, and eventually leads to acne.

As a final note: being sleep deprived is equal to driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.08%, and for those of you who know what that means - you'll understand that this means you're just as drunk as the next drunk driver.

Crazy isn't it? But is there a cure to all this?

Fortunately, there is, and more than one:

1. You can start with setting a regular bedtime that you don't go past. You'll thank yourself later when you wake up feeling stronger and more energetic. Yes, such is possible.
2. Also, try to keep away from beverages with caffeine after 4.p.m. I don't need to tell you the kind of effect they can have on how long it'll take you to fall asleep.
3. For those of us who seem to fall asleep at irregular hours during the day, try not to fall asleep at  seven and wake up by nine. As you may notice, it will keep you up longer.
4. Set up a nice sleep environment. Studies show that people sleep better in darker, cooler rooms. So put down your curtains, and turn up the cooling system.
5. Break up your activities into sizeable chunks so you are able to do them beforehand and prevent yourself from pulling all nighters to get work done.


Sleep is necessary for growth as a teenager, and lack of it tends to affect your biological clock which isn't always a good thing for when you get older. So don't cut back on your sleep! You'll  be thankful for it and at least 2x as productive as you are now!