Research paper Excerpt

     For this research paper we read an article by Sara Song in class and wrote about our opinion on sleep deprivation. I talked about my personal experience loosing sleep and other interesting facts about how we loose it and not even realize it.

Depression, anxiety, and sleep have a complex relationship. The mix doesn’t only keep you up throughout the night but can actually make your conditions worse. Experts claim that depriving yourself from sleep “chips away at your happiness.” I for one have had and still am dealing with these conditions. In my experiences; I tend to overthink about anything and everything before I knock out. After reading this article I could relate to the symptoms. Personally I usually get about three to five hours of sleep a night; getting up in the morning I usually feel like a zombie. One way to describe the feeling is lost and exhausted. Resulting in me laying there for a good while before I get started with my day. Depression can also cause sleep apnea. A condition in which a person wakes up frequently and very briefly throughout the night. The condition can alter brain activity and neurochemicals that affect a person's mood and thinking. This cycle continues getting worse leading to clinical depression. In result you’ll lose more sleep.

Feeling slow in the mornings caused me to pick up a new habit, energy drinks. My weapon of choice, to fight off drowsiness is the Starbucks Double Shots. Not a good habit for anyone to pick up because when you drink them you’re fighting off and preventing even more sleep than you;ve already lost; not to mention the health risks. Drinking an energy drink once in awhile isn't bad; mostly everyone has to have that little boost to help with their productivity. Even I have to drink one to get me through those final hours of my English class every Friday. On the other hand the best way is to get that energy for the day are those recommended eight hour of sleep every night.

Another known enemy of sleep is Social Media. I can admit that i'm victim to this addictive activity. Social Media is fairly new to the world and nearly everyone uses it; which may leed everyone encountering this problem. All those pictures of loved ones and friend, funny picture, and interesting news reports; can keep you up through the night. This happens to me all the time. A big downside is if you’re not careful; time will pass you by in a quickness. Quickly losing an hour or two of sleep a night and not even realizing it. In addition to social media; your phone can is an even bigger distraction. You can almost be fully asleep: then you hear that majestic ringtone; no choice but to look. Self control is hard to find when it comes to technology nowadays.