Teen Sleep Program
Teen Sleep Program
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Situation 1: Productivity, Grades & Test Scores
You have an important test tomorrow and a lot more to study before you are going to be ready. It’s now 11:00 p.m. and you’re getting very tired. There is a lot more to study, you might even need an all-nighter to get through all the material.
Discussion: So, given this situation, what should you do? What would you probably actually do? How could you handle this situation better?
Facilitated discussion points:
Even if you know that sleep is important, it’s often hard to put that knowledge into action. And although you may think that studying is more important than sleeping, getting the extra sleep will most likely help your performance in school. In one study, teens who received A’s averaged about fifteen more minutes sleep than the B students, who in turn averaged eleven more minutes than the C’s, and the C’s had ten more minutes than the D’s. So even small amounts of extra sleep can make a HUGE difference for your grades! Sleep is critical for learning and memory—staying up to study without getting your needed sleep can hurt your grade.
Situation 2: Athletic Performance
You have an important meet tomorrow. At practice, everyone on the team is talking about: “Don’t get too much sleep tonight! You don’t want to be too groggy for the meet!” What should you do? Get less sleep?
Discussion: What would you do? What has been your experience with sleep before an important game or meet? How has sleep affected your athletic performance?
Facilitated discussion points:
YOU CANNOT GET TOO MUCH SLEEP. Once your body has reached its “limit,” you will no longer be able to fall asleep. Most high school students are carrying around a big sleep debt, so getting any extra sleep is always a good thing for your health and performance. For athletics in particular, reaction time and endurance are impaired by insufficient sleep. Sleep deprivation makes you unable to play at your optimum level. So if you want to achieve your best performance and win, be sure you and your teammates are all getting enough sleep!
Situation 3: Energy/Mood/Physical Health
Tim, a high school student and a friend of yours used to be a happy, energetic teenager. Since he began taking hard classes and playing more sports, Tim has been getting less and less sleep. You notice he is becoming moody, sad, and unhappy with his life. You see him eating large amounts of food even when he no longer feels hungry.
Discussion: What could be going on to create these changes in Tim? What role could sleep play in these changes?
Facilitated discussion points: In fact, Tim’s loss of sleep is probably a significant reason for many of these changes. Sleep loss, especially in teenagers, is associated with feelings of sadness and inadequacy and bad moods. Sleep debt also increases the chances of health risks such as obesity. The risk of obesity goes up 80% for each hour of lost sleep. For your physical and mental health, sleep is extremely important.
Action Tips to Maximize Sleep and Reduce Your Sleep Debt:
Lesson 2: Drowsy Driving
Situation 1: Drowsiness and Alcohol
Your older sister would never drive drunk, but she doesn’t hesitate to get in the car after pulling an all-nighter doing homework. You feel fine getting in the car with her because, after all, she is sober.
Discussion: In this situation, what would you probably actually do? What do you think you should do?
Facilitated discussion points:
Although drunk driving is highlighted by parents, schools, and the media, drowsy driving can be at least as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Drowsiness and fatigue lead to many things that endanger drivers, including:
People who are sleep deprived, for example, have been found to have performance equal to impairment with a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) over the legal limit of .08. Getting 4 hours less sleep than needed or going 24 hours without sleep can impair performance equal to a very dangerous .10 BAC.
Situation 2: DROWSINESS IS RED ALERT
You find yourself very sleepy while driving home one afternoon, but you think, “It’s okay…I only have a little further to get home and I know the way, I’ll be fine”
Discussion: So, given this situation, what do you think you should do? How could you handle this situation better?
Facilitated discussion points:
The danger of drowsy driving should not be underestimated. In fact, 87% of drowsy driving accidents involve at least 1 fatality. Adults between the ages of 18-29 are much more likely to drive while drowsy compared to other age groups, and motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among Americans 1-34 years old. This attitude is especially dangerous because you become completely blind and deaf at the moment of sleep onset. In a Stanford University study, for example, subjects with their eyelids taped open did not respond to an extremely bright flashing light because they had momentarily fallen asleep. If such extreme light could not rouse people with their eyes forced open, it is highly unlikely that anything (short of an accident) will awaken a sleeping driver.
Situation 3: Combating Drowsy Driving
You’re driving alone down the highway late at night when you find yourself struggling to stay awake. Your eyelids feel heavy, and you find it difficult to keep your eyes on the road. (This scenario might also be happening to a friend or loved one, if not yourself.)
Discussion: What should you do?
Facilitated discussion points:
Drowsy driving is an extremely widespread issue – in fact, 60% of adult drivers say they have driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy in the past year, and 37%, or 103 million people, have actually fallen asleep at the wheel! So although many drivers may attempt to wake up by turning on the radio or opening the windows, this type of stimulation will not get rid of the sleepiness that is making you dangerous (it may boost alertness for 10—15 minutes). Instead, the very best way to combat drowsiness is to pull over to the side of the road and take a nap. If this is unrealistic, at least try to engage in some sort of physical activity or social interaction that will wake you up enough until you can safely find the best place to take a nap. Finally, drinking caffeine can temporarily improve alertness but the caffeine will take 15-30 minutes to take effect.
Action Tips for Safe Driving
Situation 1:
You have been told that you snore. It doesn’t seem to bother you but sometimes it can be embarrassing when you sleep over at a friend’s house.
Discussion:
Is snoring anything you should worry about?
Facilitated discussion points:
Snoring can be a sign of a potentially serious medical condition called sleep apnea. People with sleep apnea have significant problems with breathing pauses (holding their breathe) during sleep. In young children snoring is usually a sign of airway obstruction that causes many awakenings and sleep disruption. In teenagers and adults, the likelihood that an individual that snores has obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may be as high as 80%. Sleep apnea can cause serious medical problems, safety risks, excessive sleepiness, and performance impairments (e.g., memory). Instead of being a source of embarrassment, snoring is a symptom to discuss with your physician.
Situation 2:
Your father has a family history of heart disease and has recently been diagnosed with high blood pressure. He complains of being fatigued, but attributes this to working too hard and getting older. Your whole family teases him about his snoring.
Discussion:
Should your father be concerned about his symptoms, or is it truly just part of growing older, or something he can treat by losing a few pounds? Are any of these issues related?
Facilitated discussion points:
Too many times people will make excuses for their fatigue. Certainly, not getting enough sleep can cause fatigue. However, obstructive sleep apnea causes sleep disruption and fatigue as well. As an individual tries to progress into deep sleep, muscle relaxation occurs as a normal phenomenon. The upper airway between the roof of the mouth (the palate) and the base of the tongue is a muscular tube that may collapse when breathing if it is too narrow. This obstruction will result in waking up and creating sleep disruption. Sleep apnea is the one sleep disorder with a very strong association to other medical disease such as heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and depression. Although the signs and symptoms of these diseases may not occur until later in life, the damage can start early on, even in childhood. Early evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of sleep apnea is critical, especially for individuals with other health concerns or a strong family history of these disorders.
Situation 3:
You have paid careful attention to the information given during the M-A Teen Sleep Program and have made a variety of changes in your schedule to allow more time for adequate sleep. But you are still tired and have not seen improvement in your concentration or memory.
Discussion:
What else can you do to improve your sleep, performance and quality of life?
Facilitated discussion points:
Great job working to get enough sleep and using good sleep habits! Even though you may be getting the right amount of sleep, the quality of sleep may be disrupted and still causing problems. Although there are some signs and symptoms that are associated with an increased incidence of sleep apnea (snoring, enlarged tonsils), for many individuals fatigue may be the only or main symptom. It is important to treat poor sleep and fatigue as a significant medical issue and if necessary, see your doctor to identify possible causes.
Action Tips