Name: Angela Posting Number: 1
Topic: Health
Title of Article: Are You Feeling Sleepy? The Effects of Stress on Sleep Patterns
Author: Kirsty Hanly
Publication Name: Huffington Post Date of Publication: February 8, 2012
Length of Article: 1 page, 610 words
I think everyone can agree when I say that junior year in high school can really stress a student out. We feel the impact of stress as pressures of grades, friends, SAT, and more weigh heavily on our shoulders. However, stress can impact us during our happiest time of the day: when we sleep. In this article written by cognitive hypnotherapist Kirsty Hanly, she describes the effect that stress can have on our unconscious minds. When we are stressed, the sympathetic nervous system treats it as if we are facing a threat, and puts our bodies in the fight or flight mode. This means that even when we're sleeping, we're not completely relaxed because our unconscious minds are continually on guard against "threats". This could lead to long term health problems or simply not being able to have a good night's rest.
Hanly also adds that the only sense that doesn't fully rest when we sleep is our hearing. That means all night long we're listening to potential threats even if they're just family members, pets, or outside cars creating noise. That must put a lot of stress on our bodies to have to be aware of all the things going on around us even when we're asleep.
Finally, Hanly concludes with some tips for winding down before we sleep. The first is practice feeling relaxed by taking a bath, or stretching or whatever calms you down. The second is to "get smelling" which is to put a scent by your side that you really like (maybe because you associate it with childhood memories). The third is to set a regular bedtime, which I know can be hard for a lot of us students. The last tip is to avoid stimulants such as caffeine which could increase your heart rate providing additional stress.
It's important to relax right before you go to bed, because for me that is the best time of the day. I don't want my stress to affect me even when I'm not conscious! So it's just important to leave all of it at the desk and go to bed happy :)
Topic: Health
Title of Article: Are You Feeling Sleepy? The Effects of Stress on Sleep Patterns
Author: Kirsty Hanly
Publication Name: Huffington Post Date of Publication: February 8, 2012
Length of Article: 1 page, 610 words
I think everyone can agree when I say that junior year in high school can really stress a student out. We feel the impact of stress as pressures of grades, friends, SAT, and more weigh heavily on our shoulders. However, stress can impact us during our happiest time of the day: when we sleep. In this article written by cognitive hypnotherapist Kirsty Hanly, she describes the effect that stress can have on our unconscious minds. When we are stressed, the sympathetic nervous system treats it as if we are facing a threat, and puts our bodies in the fight or flight mode. This means that even when we're sleeping, we're not completely relaxed because our unconscious minds are continually on guard against "threats". This could lead to long term health problems or simply not being able to have a good night's rest.
Hanly also adds that the only sense that doesn't fully rest when we sleep is our hearing. That means all night long we're listening to potential threats even if they're just family members, pets, or outside cars creating noise. That must put a lot of stress on our bodies to have to be aware of all the things going on around us even when we're asleep.
Finally, Hanly concludes with some tips for winding down before we sleep. The first is practice feeling relaxed by taking a bath, or stretching or whatever calms you down. The second is to "get smelling" which is to put a scent by your side that you really like (maybe because you associate it with childhood memories). The third is to set a regular bedtime, which I know can be hard for a lot of us students. The last tip is to avoid stimulants such as caffeine which could increase your heart rate providing additional stress.
It's important to relax right before you go to bed, because for me that is the best time of the day. I don't want my stress to affect me even when I'm not conscious! So it's just important to leave all of it at the desk and go to bed happy :)
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ReplyDeleteI too can testify that throughout high school, especially junior year, students experience a lot of stress. I agree with the article when it says that stress can lead to a unrestful nights sleep, and the tips mentioned, especially the one that said to stretch or take a shower, seem helpful. I understood that sleep problems had to do with your brain staying active, but I didn't know it had to do with the sympathetic nerve staying in the "fight or flight" mode. Overall, it was a very interesting article.
ReplyDeleteGreat article, I cant agree more with the fact that high school students have a lot of stress and pressure going into junior year. The fact that the nervous system treats going to sleep stressed as if we are facing a threat turning our body's in fight or flight mode, gives good insight into how students should be falling asleep. Advice from Hanly includes taking a bath, stretching or doing anything that calms you down before going to bed. Hanly also advises to set regular bedtimes, and avoid stimulates such as caffeine. The fact that going to sleep stressed could lead to long term health problems is very alarming, and is great incentive to create a regular bedtime.
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