LORENZO, Luis-Mari Javier L.

Quiz 2
11427353 ENGLCOM-V25

Sleeping is essential to the human body for it is as important as food and

water. According to Timothy Morgenthaler, M.D., an average human adult needs
to sleep for seven to eight hours, while average young adults need nine hours of
sleep everyday in order to function well. However, some sleep less or more than
the recommended amount and this affects their sleeping habit or condition. There
is this condition known as sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation is when a person
is not sleeping enough due to many reasons. According to Camille Perri, a writer
in WebMD, sleep deprivation can cause accidents, can lead to serious health
problems and can cause many more negative consequences to a person. Due to
distracting external stimuli, working too much and doing recreational activities
excessively can lead to a person to have sleep deprivation and can negatively
affect his or her emotional and physical well being; however, one can avoid such
a disorder.

Sleep deprivation is a disorder that can be acquired through experiences.

One cause of this disorder is the sleeping environment of a person. According to
the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, there are three main
factors of the environment that can affect the sleep of a person – the
temperature, noise and the light. Though there is no recommended temperature,
noise level and brightness of a room, if a person is not comfortable of how cold or
hot, how dark or bright and how noisy the sleeping environment is, he or she
would not be able to sleep well. Another cause of sleep deprivation is a person’s
work each day. According to Craig Canapari, M.D. (2012), a doctor of medicine,
students who spend more time doing homework than in sleeping can affect his or
her sleeping condition. Another cause of sleep deprivation is how much time a
person devotes him/herself to recreational activities such as social networking,
socializing and many more. According to Better Health Channel of Australia,
people not realizing that they need to sleep, tend to do socialize with other, go to
social networking sites, watch television and many more recreational activities
that can lead to a bad-sleeping habit.

Sleep deprivation has many negative effects. Sleep deprivation can affect
the emotional aspect of a person. William D. Killgore, Ph.D. (2010) a faculty in
the McLean Hospital a Harvard Medical School Affiliate, states that lack of sleep
can “[lead] general slowing of response speed and increased variability in
performance” such as the “alertness, attention and vigilance” of a person which
can worsen his performance. Moreover, the Better Health Channel of Australia
also suggests that sleep deprivation can reduce a person’s alertness,
concentration, judgment and work efficiency. Also, sleep deprivation can lead to

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physiological problems. Michael J. Breus, Ph.D. a contributor in the WebMD,
believes that sleep disorders like sleep deprivation can lead to serious medical
illness such as heart attack, stroke, obesity, high blood pressure and many more
diseases that can be detrimental to people.

Knowing the causes and effects of sleep deprivation, one must also know
how to prevent such a disorder. In order to avoid sleep deprivation, a person
must prioritize his or her time. If a person is doing too many things and needs to
sleep late, one should plan ahead of time to prevent cramming work into one
night. Also, one should separate his or her important tasks from the less-
important ones. From there prioritize on what to work on first. Another way to
avoid such sleeping disorder is for a person to remove any form of distraction to
improve his or her sleeping environment. For example, turning off electronic
devices when about to sleep, dimming the lights minutes or hours before
sleeping, removing unnecessary objects in the room that can prevent a person
from sleeping comfortably such as clocks, computers, cellphones or at least
place them somewhere where you cannot be disturbed. Lastly, a person should
avoid doing unnecessary activities or doing recreational activities excessively. It
his highly encouraged to avoid drinking alcoholic beverages or drinks containing
caffeine in it. Alcoholic drinks can help you sleep easily but it will disrupt your
sleeping pattern, while caffeinated drinks will prevent you from sleeping at the
recommended time.

Bottom line, sleep deprivation is a common sleeping disorder caused by

the sleeping environment of the person, the amount of workload a person is
given and the person’s personal choice to do unnecessary recreational activities.
This disorder may then be detrimental to your health due to its different effects,
mainly, the cognitive capability of person, the physiological problems one can go
through that can make him have the disorder of sleep deprivation. Although, it is
possible for sleep deprivation to be prevented through prioritization, removal of
distractions, and avoiding unnecessary food and beverages before heading to
sleep.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

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11427353 ENGLCOM-V25

Better Health Channel (n.d.). Sleep Deprivation. Better Health Channel

(Australia). http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/

Michael J. Breus, PhD (2012). Sleep Habits: More Important Than You Think.
WebMD. http://www.wedmed.com

Craig Canapari, MD (2012). Too Much Homework, Too Little Sleep: Structural
Sleep Deprivation in Teens. Dr. Craig Canapari, MD
http://drcraigcanapari.com/

Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School (2007). External Factors

that Influence Sleep. Healthy Sleep. http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/

William D. Killgore (2010). Effects of sleep deprivation on cognition. PubMed.gov

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

Timothy Morgenthaler, M.D. (2013). How many hours of sleep are enough for
good health? Mayo Clinic. http://www.mayoclinc.org

Camille Peri (2012). 10 Things to Hate About Sleep Loss. WebMD.

http://www.wedmed.com

THESIS STATEMENT:
Due to distracting external stimuli, working too much and doing
recreational activities excessively can lead to a person to have sleep deprivation

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LORENZO, Luis-Mari Javier L. Quiz 2
11427353 ENGLCOM-V25
and can negatively affect his/her emotional and physical well being; however,
one can avoid such a disorder.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION:

Causes:
- Sleeping Environment – temp, noise,
- Workload – too much workload causing to sleep late
- Personal choice – socializing, watching tv, recreational

Effects:
- Emotional Aspect
- Physiological Problems –
- Impairs judgment *can be under emotional –

How to avoid?
- Prioritize your time -
- Remove Distraction, improve environment
- Avoid unnecessary activities – drinking alcohol and coffee (nightcaps)

Conclusion
- be better
- etc.