What are the dangers of teenage sleep deprivation?

In order to function normally during the day, everyone needs to get a good night's sleep. For teenagers, this means that they need to sleep about nine hours every night. But practice shows that in reality this is far from true - teenagers sleep much less than they should. This leads to inattention in class, absent-mindedness, memory lapses, general weakening of the body, and frequent colds. According to the National Survey Foundation, only about one fifth of teenagers (20%) sleep as much each night as they should for their age.

The Internal Clock of Teenagers

Adolescence is always the culprit when it comes to sleep. The body's internal clock, officially called circadian rhythms, changes as puberty progresses. Melatonin, the brain hormone associated with sleep, is released late in the evening in adolescents. So while a younger child can easily fall asleep quite early, teenagers are still not tired, and a few hours later they need a good night's sleep, longer than they should - after all, they have to get up for school or high school at about seven in the morning. So it turns out that at night, a teenager cannot fall asleep for a long time, and in the morning he cannot wake up, but is forced to do so because of a rigid social schedule.

This becomes a serious problem for teenagers with a lot of academic work, which exhausts the body even more against the background of chronic lack of sleep. To prevent the child from being late for school, it is worth waking him up an hour earlier than usual, so that waking up is not hasty and therefore stressful for him. But it is also necessary to take care of the teenager going to bed on time.

The Impact of Lack of Sleep on the Teenager's Body

When teenagers don’t get enough sleep, it can have serious side effects. The child may have difficulty concentrating at school, may sit and doze off in class, which naturally causes confusion for the teacher. This can lead to decreased productivity at work and in school. Unfortunately, this is a common problem among teenagers. In extreme cases, lack of sleep can lead to unmotivated aggression, angry behavior, or depression (which can lead to even more sleep problems).

Lack of sleep can also make a teenager more prone to acne and other skin problems. The poor concentration and slow reaction time that are typical of sleep-deprived children can have very dangerous consequences. Sometimes, teen sleep problems are symptoms of illnesses or other medical conditions, such as side effects from medications, sleep apnea, anemia, or mononucleosis. In this case, a visit to a pediatrician and a psychologist with the parents and teen is necessary.

What can parents do to help their teenager get enough sleep?

When communicating with a teenager, parents can make proper sleep a priority in their daily routine. First of all, it is necessary to develop a sleep schedule and the hours at which the teenager wakes up. It is very important to maintain this plan even on weekends. If the child does not sleep at night and then lies in bed until the afternoon on Saturday or Sunday, it will be very difficult to change his internal biorhythms again. Then it will become almost impossible for the teenager to fall asleep on Monday at a normal time and wake up early in the morning.

To help your child fall asleep and wake up on time, you need to create conditions for good sleep. Let your child's room have dim lighting, and turn off the computer screen before bed. Turn off external noise. You also need to make sure that the teenager's room is warm enough.

Avoid bright light and sun in the first half of the day to allow your teen to wake up comfortably. If your teen is tired and wants to take a nap after lunch, limit their nap to 30 minutes; sleeping longer may prevent them from falling asleep at night. Try to make sure your teen avoids nighttime homework and doesn't stay up all night studying.

Keep your teen away from prolonged TV viewing, computer games, and other overstimulating activities for 2 hours before bedtime. The following fact speaks volumes about the dangers of electronic media in a teen’s bedroom. In 2006, the National Survey Foundation found that children with four or more electronic devices in their bedrooms were chronically sleep-deprived. When your teen goes to bed, make sure they are not doing any other activities and that the focus is on falling asleep. Teens should also avoid chocolate and caffeinated drinks after 4 p.m. This will help them fall asleep better.

Teenagers' sleep problems can be solved. Both parents and teenagers themselves just need to get involved in the process.