Feeling tired? Well, you’re not alone, according to a recent study by the Sleep Foundation of America, which found that college students as a group most have the most commonly occurring insomnia.
The study found that adults ages 18 to 29 are more likely to be sleepy during the day, more likely to take medication to stay awake and more likely to have trouble sleeping on weekday nights.
“I don’t know for sure but I would be shocked if [BU students] didn’t [suffer from insomnia],” said Dr. Sanford Auerbach, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the Boston University Medical Center.
“Insomnia itself is a very common problem,” he said. “Lifestyle factors include stress and not maintaining a regular sleep-wake cycle.”
Lifestyle factors include many things that can contribute to sleepless nights, Auerbach said, including stress, caffeine use, alcohol use and an irregular sleep-wake cycle.
“Not maintaining regular sleep patterns is the second major problem,” Auerbach said. “College students have a tendency for their sleep patterns to become delayed – by and large the average student will have the bias to go bed later and wake up later.”
The lifestyle of any college student tends to contribute to bad sleeping habits and can lead to insomnia, Auerbach said. The study also said people between the ages of 18 to 29 are much more likely to stay up late on weekdays and to sleep late on weekends.
“Young people tend to tolerate sleep deprivation better than older people,” Auerbach said.
Caffeine and alcohol can also contribute to insomnia, Auerbach said. He cited caffeine-filled drinks student use to stay awake as a reason students have trouble getting to bed.
“Alcohol gives a false sense of security because the average person who drinks gets sleepy … but the second half of the night of sleep doesn’t go well,” Auerbach said.
He said people do sleep well at first, but once the effects of the alcohol wear off, their sleep can be much less efficient.
“You have to allow yourself time to relax,” Auerbach said. “You have to allow proper prep time to fall asleep.”
Auerbach said people need to relax before going to bed and that many college students don’t do that. He said many college students have a habit of studying for hours at a time and then stopping and immediately trying to get to bed. Students who do that cannot get to sleep as easily because they usually end up worrying their work and about getting to sleep, rather than simply being relaxed, he said.
But Auerbach said there are many different reasons for insomnia and a lot depends on the people themselves. He cited the prevalence of other sleeping disorders as possible contributions to insomnia, such as sleep apnea and “restless legs syndrome,” both of which are surprisingly common sleeping disorders which can keep people awake at night.
“As best you can, adhere to some sort of schedule,” Auerbach said. But “there’s no such thing as one size fits all,” he said.
Several BU students said they do sometimes have trouble sleeping, and pointed to many different reasons for their troubles.
“I do stay up and do work,” said College of Engineering sophomore Franklin Williams. “I pull all-nighters a lot, it sucks.”
College of Engineering sophomore Dave Fen said his lack of sleep stems more from an overloaded class schedule than anything else.
“I took too many classes,” said Fen said. “I guess I’m not tired at night because I took naps during the day.”
College of Communication freshman Lauren Hutchinson said she mainly has trouble with sleep after large amounts of caffeine, though sleeping during class is less of a problem.
“I have experienced difficulty falling asleep here at BU, but the only times have been late at night when I’ve either had too much coffee, or am feeling anxious about something,” Hutchinson said. “But oddly enough, I have no trouble falling asleep in class or in the middle of the day.”
When CAS senior Montal Laohakunakorn cannot sleep, school is too much on her mind, she said.
“Yeah, I just think about a lot of things, school basically,” Laohakunakorn said. “It makes me really tired the next day.”
But other students said they have more trouble sleeping in college.
“It’s not more occurring in college,” said CAS freshman Melissa Spencer.
She said students should simply “read a book” if they need to get to sleep.
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