The Significance of Sleep for the Human Body Essay Example
The Significance of Sleep for the Human Body Essay Example

The Significance of Sleep for the Human Body Essay Example

Available Only on StudyHippo
  • Pages: 3 (803 words)
  • Published: May 13, 2022
View Entire Sample
Text preview

After a long day, the first thing many want to do is to hop in bed and go right to sleep; it is a very comforting and secure feeling to lie in one's bed. Sleep is a way to wind down and relax, sleep is a way to escape from reality and into the dream world, and sleep is a way to forget about the stress that one carries on her shoulders. Sleep is needed and most of the times wanted in our lives, but sometimes sleep is harder for others though.

The benefits of sleep include restoration, growth, and memory. By the end of the day our brains become worn out by the day's activities, by sleeping we are able restore, replenish, and rebuild our brain. It is also shown that while we sleep, we give neurons that we use while we are awake

...

a chance to shut down and repair themselves. Without this sleep, the neurons are overworked that there is a chance they can malfunction.

By sleeping every night, it gives our brain and body a chance to catch up and bring itself back up to its fullest potential. Another benefit of sleep is growth; it can be beneficial to our physical growth and also growth of our brain. A hormone for growth is able to be released while a child is in deep sleep, having a lack of sleep increases stress on the brain which can deter development and growth. One more benefit of sleep is increased memory. During a process call consolidation, one can strengthen memories or practice skills in one's sleep that was learned while awake. One wakes up the next

View entire sample
Join StudyHippo to see entire essay

morning with a better memory of what she has learned if she has had a good night's sleep compared to one who had a lack of sleep.

My own sleeping habits have not been the best, I know for a fact I could still improve on them. I have heard that senior year is difficult, but in my mind I thought I would be able to handle it. Sadly, I was wrong. During the beginning of senior year, my boyfriend and I broke up. On top of that I had to deal with regular school, extra classes, clubs, college search, essays, and applications. All of this stress really got to me, the worst part was it hit all at once.

Trying to be strong, I suppressed all my sadness and stress. During the day I was able to function normally, but at night it was really hard. My grief had turned into depression which kept me from concentrating on my studies. The stress accumulated and kept me from sleeping at night.

After lying in bed for hours I finally turned to sleeping pills. I thought they would be a quick fix for my slight case of insomnia. I was wrong. My depression and stress only got worse because the work kept piling on. One sleeping pill started not to be enough, then two, and then three.

Within two weeks I became dependant on the sleeping pills to make me fall asleep. I knew this was a problem, but I was too busy to find a way to fix it. So I let it continue, until three started not to be enough. One desperate night, I decided to take five.

In my mind I did not care about the consequences, I just could not face reality and would do anything to put me into a quick, dreamless sleep.

The next morning the total effects were still not completely worn off, and then it hit me that I needed to stop. My stress and depression were not getting better, and I knew the pills could only be making it worse. I decided to make a plan to lower my stress and go back to sleeping naturally: I set a regular bedtime for no later than 12:00 am, when I got home I would take a 20 minute nap, I made sure to not use my laptop or watch TV right before I went to bed, and I would lower my intake of sleeping pills from three to zero over a couple weeks. What I think helped me the most was listening to classical music, it helped me fall asleep and stay asleep.

Sleep is very important to the human body. It is able to help our bodies catch up with itself, grow, and increase memory. Without sleep our bodies tend to fall apart, which really takes a toll on our lives. Today, people are always busy and always doing something; it is difficult to find the time to have a good night's rest.

Even though it may be hard to find the time, we must make the time because it is beneficial in the end.

Get an explanation on any task
Get unstuck with the help of our AI assistant in seconds
New