How your Bedtime Affects Your Mental Health: The Draining Hours

Meet Naomi.

Naomi, is a second year Biomed honors major. She is a very brilliant outgoing girl. She loves helping out her mama and papa cook and manages to keep her home nice and tidy. She does it out of all the love they shower her. She also enjoys going out. On weekends, she would go out with her friends to eat out at fancy restaurants whenever her budget permitted. Sometimes, she'd hit the Rebel on Saturdays with her friends and dance her way through the night. She knew life was short, and made sure to enjoy herself as much as she could. The one thing that gave her the utmost energy was TikTok. Just like other teens her age, she was a huge addict of the app. From time to time, she would re - create TikTok challenges with her BFF, Mariana. 

After all, Naomi was one spectacular woman indeed! 

Though she had one weakness that would shut her out completely. That was to be blamed on her procrastination. She always had the tendency to leave her assignments till last minute. 

~ ~ ~ One Thursday Evening ~ ~ ~

"Oh I shouldn't have procrastinated," groaned Naomi.

It was past 7. Naomi gazed at her round wooden clock mounted on the wall across her nightstand, hoping the clock would somehow rewind itself.

"This happens to me every single time. Why am I like this?" 

Naomi was on the verge of tears.

"Another day completely wasted watching those TikToks 😔 Bruh, I seriously need to get my shit together!" fumed Naomi. 

She couldn't hit the sack tonight in peace. She had to do something about the essay. It was worth 30 % of her overall mark! It was now or never. To pass or to fail were the ultimate options. 

A moment passed. She wasn't caught off guard after all.   

"It wouldn't hurt to pull another all - nighter. Right? You got this Naomi! You got this!" 

Naomi confidentially shut down her phone for the night.

~ ~ ~ Schedule ~ ~ ~ 

✔️8 PM : Brainstorm complete   

✔️9 PM : Sources collected  

✔️10 PM : Outline complete  

✔️11 PM : Introduction complete 

✔️12 PM Second paragraph complete 

✔️12 : 30 AM : Coffee Break + Midnight Snack 

✔️1 : 15 AM : Third Paragraph Complete 

✔️2 : 15 AM : Fourth Paragraph Complete 

✔️3 : 15 AM : Fifth Paragraph Complete 

✔️4 : 15 AM :  Conclusion Complete 

✔️5 : 30 AM : Citations Complete 

✔️6 : 30 AM :  Proofread Complete

 

"Alright, I got this. Gotta stick to my schedule and everything will be under control," Naomi assured herself.

2 hours passed. Naomi was on a roll. 

"Alright, I got my sources down, time to write an outline!" Naomi was delighted.

The Future of Biotechnology and how Biomedical Physiology drives it ....

By 11 PM, she had completed her introductory paragraph, and was half way through her second paragraph. Naomi, who was used to sleeping right before midnight, felt her sleeping cells ring second after second. She had pulled an all - nighter the other day and had just under 5 hours of sleep the night before. She was already doomed. 

"Alright, this can wait for two minutes. Just need to splash my face with some ice cold water, and get a caffeine boost and I'd be refreshened in no time," Naomi left out a hefty yawn while exiting her room. 

It was 11 : 30 PM. Though she took more time than she had anticipated, Naomi was back at it. Sipping her Espresso in between, she was on a roll again. 

A few hours passed. It was almost 2 in the morning. Naomi felt the Queen bee sting her eye for the 300 time during that hour. She could not help it. 

"Oh just two more paragraphs. Bear with me eyes, just bear with me!" Naomi begged her eyes to cooperate as they were on the brink of shutting down for the night.

"Alright, I think I need a refill. Maybe I'll snack on those cookies mama and I baked yesterday too. Gotta charge up to push through the next hour times two." Naomi left a heavy exhale as she exited her room for the second time.  

She was back in 15. 

"Naomi, we can't waste another minute. You got this girl!" she reassured herself as she was back at it punching the keys, munching the heavenly goodness in between.

Two hours passed. Naomi felt her head banging against the brick of a wall. 

"Oh I just have to proofread, edit, and then ..." Naomi was completely worn out. Within moments, she had passed out to the core.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sleep is a crucial recurring phase of the mind and body that help heal and regenerate the body's necessary cells, so that you wake up refreshed to get going the next day. Getting enough sleep every night is vital to ensure adequate health and overall well being. 

Though sleep is believed to be correlated with your physical health, it is also very much related to your mental health. When you feel sleep deprived, I'm sure you may have felt agitated and totally wiped out, just like Naomi felt when she tried pulling an all - nighter for her Biomed class. Although these are short - term implications, not having enough sleep on a regular basis can lead to severe long - term adverse health effects. These include heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and depression. 

Naomi tried to keep herself awake through the night through the consumption of caffeine and sugar. Caffeine is the ultimate enemy of sleep. The stimulant tends to play games with the pacing of your body clock, which when taken at night, makes you eventually feel a lack of energy the next day. Sugar also tends to mess up with your sleep cycle. Those who consume sugar in high amounts fail to sleep deeply, and end up feeling completely restless the next day.

So the next time you decide to sacrifice your sleep schedule, think twice! Learn to go to bed early, so you can get those 8 hours of rest. If it's procrastination that you're struggling with, which is keeping you awake due the number of assignments you need to get done for the next day per say, do keep a look out for a new blog post on combating procrastination. Coming soon!

In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed my new take on writing this blog post. Do make sure to follow, subscribe, and let your friends know about my blog so that they can all give them a read too. 


Websites Consulted:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325353

https://www.verywellmind.com/how-sleep-affects-mental-health-4783067

http://sleepeducation.org/news/2013/08/01/sleep-and-caffeine


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