Do you have a cranky teen always on edge? Have you checked whether they are getting enough sleep? Remember that teens go through physical sleep pattern changes and if they don’t change their sleep habits to adjust to these physical changes it can cause havoc. Poor sleep health can seriously impact mental health and lead to destructive behavior.
Proven Studies
Research has found that with adolescents the circadian rhythms and preferred sleep times shift to later, often leading to a mismatch with school schedules. This mismatch induces circadian misalignment and sleep loss, which have been associated with mood changes, increased drug and alcohol use, and other risk-taking behaviors in adolescents and adults. Abundant evidence indicates that sleep and circadian rhythms modulate reward function, suggesting that adolescent sleep and circadian disturbance may contribute to altered reward function, and in turn, alcohol involvement.
A study done by the Department of Psychology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California recruited undergraduate students from two West Coast universities to assess relationships among three vital health-related areas – mental health, sleep behavior, and alcohol risk. The results showed that poor mental health significantly led to drinking motivations such as social issues, inept coping skills, conformity, and enhancement, as well as poor sleep. Most of the drinking motives, such as social emotional factors, and poor sleep were found to explain alcohol use. Poor sleep also predicted alcohol consequences. These findings tell us that focusing on alleviating poor sleep quality alongside mental health problems can also eliminate alcohol related consequences, which is another mental health factor.
The National Sleep Foundation’s 2006 Sleep in America poll found that many adolescents exhibit symptoms of a depressive mood on a frequent if not daily basis, and these teens are more likely to have sleep problems. Research shows that lack of sleep affects mood, and a depressed mood can lead to lack of sleep. It’s a vicious cycle, which teens need to actively combat with healthy sleep habits.
Importance of Sleep for Teenagers
For humans sleep is brain food, but for teens it is the most highly nutrient brain food. During sleep, important body functions and brain activity occur. A good night’s sleep gives boosts to memory, concentration and learning, as well as flush out harmful toxins that build up in the brain during the day. Skipping sleep can be harmful and even deadly. Lack of sleep can make it hard to get along with your family and friends and hurt your scores on school exams, on the court or on the field.
Remember: A brain that is hungry for sleep will get it, even when you don’t expect it. When you do not get enough sleep, you are more likely to have an accident, injury and/or illness.
Your child’s biological sleep patterns shift toward later times for both sleeping and waking during adolescence. This means it is natural to not be able to fall asleep before 11:00 pm. Primarily for this reason most teens do not get enough sleep — one study found that only 15% reported sleeping 8 1/2 hours on school nights. They fall asleep late and have to wake up early for school.
Teens need about 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night to function best. However, teens tend to have irregular sleep patterns across the week — they typically stay up late and sleep in late on the weekends, which can affect their biological clocks and hurt the quality of their sleep. Many teens suffer from treatable sleep disorders, such as narcolepsy, insomnia, restless legs syndrome or sleep apnea.
There is no doubt that mental health and sleep health go hand in hand and one effects the other. Simply looking at adolescents, a population that goes through sleep changes as a part of the stage of life they are in supports this.
