College dorm rooms bring on their own breed of sleep saboteurs -- from the always-looming coursework to the impromptu Justin Bieber dance party happening down the hall.
But anyone who has pulled or attempted an all-nighter has felt the dismal effects of getting too little sleep.
Sleep debt (i.e., not getting enough of it) has short- and long-term consequences for your body, your health and how you function, says Jess Shatkin, professor of child and adolescent psychiatry and pediatrics at the New York University School of Medicine.
“Poor sleep affects everything from memory and neurological functioning to irritability, depression and anxiety,” he tells The Huffington Post. Recent studies have linked poor sleep to a wide range of health problems, from an inability to focus and pay attention to difficulty staying at a healthy weight. And even more research has shown when you don’t get enough sleep, you’re more likely to get sick, get emotional, have an accident and even look less attractive.
To help yourself get seven to nine hours of sleep a night (which is what the National Sleep Foundation recommends for anyone age 18 to 25), Shatkin and other experts say to watch out for these sleep wreckers:
It’s completely normal for your body to wake up every one and a half to two hours during sleep for a couple of minutes and then fall back asleep, he says. “If we’re sleeping well, we probably don’t remember these awakenings.”
Typically you need to be awake about five or six minutes to be aware you are awake. But familiar stimuli (like your cell phone) can trigger you to start thinking about things you associate with those stimuli (work, classes, tests, deadlines!) and keep you awake. Getting your phone out of the room you sleep in is best, but if you’re living in cramped quarters (or a one-room dorm), sleep with your phone across the room and under a towel so you won’t see it, Shatkin suggests.
But if you're someone who falls asleep with the television on "in the background," listen up. Unlike soothing white noise from sound machines (or even the buzz of an air conditioner) that can help you tune out other noises distracting you from sleep, the sounds coming from your TV jump around in tone, pitch and volume and can potentially wake you up and interrupt sleep.
“You want to associate the bed with sleep,” Shatkin says. “Just like Pavlov’s dogs started drooling when they heard the bell, you want your head to drool for sleep when you see your bed.”
“A poor quality mattress or any mattress that makes you feel uncomfortable in bed can be distracting and prevent someone from getting good quality sleep,” Shatkin says. Try adding a mattress pad or pillow top to make it more comfortable.
He suggests getting up -- and even if you do build up some sleep debt, you’ll sleep better the next night. And if you feel you can’t make it through the day, try a 20- to 30-minute nap before 4 p.m. to help yourself feel refreshed but not interfere with nighttime sleep.
“And not the free ones you get on long flights, which can lean against your eyes and might keep you awake,” Shatkin says. Look for the convex ones that allow you to blink underneath them.
And if the problem is your roommate, there is no substitute for good communication. Try having a conversation about regular dark or sleepy hours for your room, Shatkin says.
Sarah DiGiulio is The Huffington Post’s sleep reporter. You can contact her at sarah.digiulio@huffingtonpost.com.
