Student Sleep Problems

Are you sleepy or having a hard time sleeping? Experts estimate that 27% of students are at risk for sleep disorders. More than 50% of students report significant daytime sleepiness and 66% of students feel sleepiness impacts their academic performance. So even if you currently don’t think that you are sleep-deprived, you could be.

How Do You Know if You Are Sleep-Deprived?

Red flags for sleepiness include:

  • Do you fall asleep in class?
  • Are classes boring?
  • Do you find it hard to concentrate?
  • Can you only read or study for a short time before your attention wanders?
  • Do you have a very hard time waking up in the morning?

 

Sleep and Learning

Sleep is important for many reasons, but one big reason is that of memory and learning. How do we know if there a relationship between sleep and learning?  This is a pretty complex question, but one way to investigate sleep and learning is to give students a learning task and then either let them sleep or keep them awake, and then test them at a later time.These studies have shown (in general) that sleep improves learning.

Other studies have shown that a nap improved memorization, even a nap as short as 6 minutes. Sleep problems may lower grade point averages (GPAs).One study showed that students with a GPA less than 2.0 were twice as likely to have a sleep disorder.

Improving Your Sleepiness

If you are a “sleepy student” what can you do? The obvious answer is to get more sleep. Try to have a regular wake-up time.If possible, go to sleep earlier.If you can’t fall asleep earlier watch your caffeine intake, since it lasts about 6-8 hours in your system.

There is also the University of Michigan Collegiate Sleep Disorders Clinic where professionals are available to help you improve your sleep, daytime function and, hopefully, your academic performance.

Make an Appointment

To make an appointment at our Sleep Disorders Clinic at the Med Inn Building to talk with someone about your sleep problem, call us at 734-936-9068.

Clinic Location
Med Inn Building
1500 East Medical Center Drive
Room C728
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Phone: 734-936-9068
Fax: 734-936-5377