Getting enough sleep – not too much or not too little, said BYU-Hawaii students, is a balancing act but necessary to function well in college. A recent Finnish study supports their comments finding people who sleep less than five hours a night or more than 10 get sick more often.“I sleep eight to nine hours every day in order to feel better and more energetic,” said Emily Thompson, a senior majoring in graphic design from Arizona. “If I don’t get my eight hours, I can’t focus and I feel dead – literally.”According to the Finnish studies, data was collected from more than 3,500 participants by scientists and they found the perfect amount of sleep is approximately eight hours, says information on the Finish government website.Elder Harris, the director of BYUH’s Counseling Office, said about sleep, “One issue that comes up time and time again is lack of sleep leads to an inability often to make decisions, irritability, a greater tendency to get angry and a lesser ability to pay attention or concentrate. So as you can tell from that, a lack of sleep it can debilitate any student’s ability to perform well in school or academic programs.”The Finnish scientists also found women need slightly less sleep then men. Women need 7.6 hours of sleep verses 7.8 for men, they reported. Previous research from the University of California at San Diego School of Medicine and the American Cancer Society found seven hours of sleep is more effective than eight hours.“I need six to seven hours. It’s enough for me,” said Lisa Welker, a sophomore majoring in social work from Oregon. “When I have more sleep, it is easier to focus and stay awake while I study.” She added a lack of sleep negatively affects her academic process.Soram Yun, a junior majoring in psychology and music from South Korea, said the amount of time she sleeps isn’t as necessary as the consistency of the sleep. “The ideal scenario for me would be to go to bed at 10 p.m. and sleep until 2 or 3 a.m.,” said Yun. Because of her schedule, Yun said she sleeps random hours but has gotten used to it.
Writer: Vlad Tropnikov ~ Multimedia Journalist
