Teenagers and Sleep

Sleep is food for the brain. During sleep, important body functions and brain activity occur. Skipping sleep can be harmful, even deadly, particularly if you are behind the wheel. You can look bad, you may feel moody, and you perform poorly. Sleepiness can make it hard to get along with your family and friends and hurt your scores on school exams. Sleepiness can lead to aggressive or inappropriate behavior such as yelling at your friends or being impatient with your teaehers or family members.

Sleep is vital to your well-being, as important as the air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you eat. It can even help you to eat better and manage the stress of being a teenager.

Teenagers need about 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night to function best. Most teens do not get enough sleep: one study found that only 15% reported sleeping 8 hours and a half on school nights. Not getting enough sleep or having sleep difficulties can limit your ability to learn, listen, concentrate and solve problems.

Teens tend to have irregular sleep patterns across the week - they typically stay up late and sleep in late on the weekends, which can affect their biological clocks and hurt the quality of their sleep.

Consuming caffeine close to bedtime can hurt your sleep, so avoid coffee, tea, soda and chocolate late in the day, and you can get to sleep at night. Nicotine and alcohol will also interfere with your sleep.

A consistent sleep schedule will help you feel less tired since it allows your body to get in synchronization with its natural patterns. You will find that it’s easier to fall asleep at bedtime with this type of routine.