Sleep

Sleep helps your body and mind rest, repair, and restore the energy you need to do well in class and life and to cope with stress.

Quick Facts

• College students need 7 or more hours of sleep/night
• UNH students report sleep as a top concern negatively impacting academic success  
• Sleep enhances cognitive functioning such as concentration and memory
• Sleep boosts the immune system, making it more difficult to get sick 
• Sleep restores your body to optimal health and functioning  
• Sleep helps cope with stress 
• Sleep helps improve academic performance 
• Sleep is good for your health 

Consequences of Poor Sleep

• Reaction time slows, impacting athletic performance, driving, and motor skills 
• Academic performance declines  
• Stress increases 
• Short-term and long-term health consequences  
• Creativity declines 
• Ability to make good choices declines 
• Increase in mood difficulties, such as depression and anxiety 
• Increase in weight gain

Stages of Sleep  

While you sleep, your brain follows the same pattern every 90 minutes. These patterns are known as the stages of sleep and include stage 1, stage 2, slow-wave sleep, and REM. Each stage affects your brain and body differently. Your mind and body function better when you get a quality mix of all the sleep cycles.

Awake

Your brain is active, constantly firing and processing all the information you receive throughout the day. When you settle down to sleep, your mind and body start a multistage process needed for academic performance and wellness.

Stage 1: NREM

In this stage, everything begins to slow down in preparation for the following stages of sleep, known as Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep. You feel like you are half awake and half asleep. Your surface body temperature starts to drop, your heart rate and metabolism slow down, and your eyes gently shift from side to side under your eyelids. You may experience instant jerks that wake you up.

Stage 2: NREM

This stage restores energy and enhances alertness. Your brain starts actively sorting through all the day’s information and experiences to help you remember. Your blood vessels constrict, your temperature continues to cool, and your brain works to enhance your memory.

Stage 3: NREM/Slow-Wave

All the physical benefits of sleep occur during this stage. This stage repairs your body to reduce the harmful effects of stress, clears your mind, curbs cravings for sugar, and helps increase the strength of new memories. Many of your brain’s neurons are synchronizing with a very slow rhythm, and your body is actively restoring body tissues and organs to peak levels. In this stage, you are in what feels like a deep trance; your breath is shallow, you are taking in less oxygen, and it would take a lot of effort to wake you up.

REM (Rapid-Eye Movement)

Do you want to do well in school? REM pulls it all together by helping make connections between new thoughts and ideas, enhancing your problem-solving ability, and improving memory. Your brain is very active, and your eyes dart back and forth rapidly. You may have surreal or vivid dreams.

Most people get more slow-wave sleep in the first half of the night and more REM sleep in the second half. When you don’t get enough sleep, you miss out on all the benefits each stage of sleep offers.

Sleep and Circadian Rhythms

It is important to be awake during the day and asleep at night. Sleep is regulated by our biological rhythms, which are generally governed by the circadian rhythms of the earth, moon, and sun. The rotation of the earth from morning to night influences our body.

Many students alter their biological clocks by not going to sleep when it is dark, not waking at a regular time, and not sleeping for the needed time.

Sleep Pressure

Sleep pressure begins when you wake up in the morning. As the day progresses, your body gets tired and less functional, and your need for sleep increases. Your sleep pressure is at its climax when you feel tired at night and go to bed.

Understanding sleep pressure is important to self-care. When you listen to your body and understand that it needs sleep, you may be better able to give your body what it needs.

Insomnia

Insomnia is a common sleep disorder impacting college students. If left untreated, insomnia can lead to health concerns, including depression, increased risk of accidents and injury, and inability to concentrate in class.

Symptoms

• Difficulty falling asleep
• Difficulty staying asleep 
• Waking up earlier than desired with an inability to get back to sleep
• Short-term insomnia can occur due to stress or environmental changes (such as coming to college).
• Insomnia that lasts for long periods of time is known as chronic insomnia. 

Causes

• Stress
• Environmental changes, such as coming to college and living in a residence hall 
• Poor sleep habits, such as not having a relaxing nighttime routine
• Consuming alcohol or caffeine near bedtime 
• Certain medications, such as antidepressants, steroids, and allergy and cold products 
• Anxiety, depression, and other psychiatric conditions 
• Medical conditions that cause pain and discomfort 
• Overactive alerting signals in the brain that send signals to your body that it is time to fall asleep 

If you feel like you are struggling with insomnia, make an appointment for a medical consultation or wellness coaching.

Sleep Programs at Health & Wellness

• Be Well, Sleep Well Month: A month of activities and workshops designed to help you sleep well
• Be Well, Sleep Well Expo: The culmination of the Be Well, Sleep Well Month that includes a variety of booths, resources, and activities to help you learn to improve your sleep for academic and personal success

For details about upcoming programs, visit our Events, Workshops, and Classes page.

Additional Resources

• Meditation to Help with Sleep (coming soon)
• Coping with Stress (coming soon)
• Sleep Disorders – Insomnia
• Spotify Sleep Playlist
• White Noise Player App
• Make Your Own Soothing Sleep Sounds
• Harvard Medical School – Healthy Sleep
• Timeline: The Effects of Sleep Deprivation