Pulling an All-Nighter before Finals? Think Twice.

It is no surprise that college students have their plates full. They commonly struggle with balancing school, a social life, work and extracurricular activities. As the semester comes to a close, students are even busier as they write their final papers and study for their exams. But where does sleep fall into their daily schedules? Unfortunately for many college students, sleep is not always factored into their routines.

“I literally have no time to sleep. I have two majors, constant work, five jobs and usually extra things piled on,” Jessica Story, sophomore theatre and family sciences major, says.

The lack of sleep takes a toll on Story during the day. “I’m exhausted so I fall asleep in class. I’m irritable, I get headaches, I can’t pay attention, I’m super forgetful and things overall just don’t go well,” she says.

Elizabeth McKelvy, a sophomore broadcast journalism major, also suffers from sleep deprivation. Like many college students, McKelvy finds herself pulling all-nighters so she can finish her schoolwork and study. However, she ends up paying for it the next morning.

“After I pull an all-nighter, the next day I am out of it. I’m like a walking corpse,” McKelvy says.

Even though McKelvy feels the detrimental effects of an all-nighter in the morning, she believes the lack of sleep is necessary.

“I always found it better to stay up all night studying than sleeping. If you don’t know the material then you shouldn’t go to bed,” she says.

However, doctors feel that college students need to focus on getting more sleep. Dr. Peter Sloane attributes sleep deprivation in college students to bad sleep hygiene and circadian rhythm disorders.

Examples of poor sleep hygiene include going to sleep too late and waking up early, doing school work right before going to bed and consuming caffeine to stay awake, Sloane says.

College students should avoid doing intensive schoolwork right before going to bed and consuming caffeine in the late afternoon and evening, Sloane says. To improve their sleep hygiene, college students should try to go sleep around the same time every night, he says.

Circadian disorders occur when students frequently stay up late and have difficulty getting up early in the morning, Sloane says. Since students end up going to bed late, they end up waking up later than they should. The irregular sleep schedule of college students causes them to become sleep deprived, Sloane explains.

Sloane acknowledges that sleep deprivation has detrimental effects on college students. Students who do not get enough sleep are more susceptible to getting a viral infection because their immune systems are weaker, he says. Also, when students do not get enough sleep, the quality of their schoolwork decreases, Sloane explains.

With all of the harmful effects associated with sleep deprivation, students may want to think twice before pulling an all-nighter.