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Module 1.5c

Module 1.5c Sleep: Sleep Loss, Sleep

Disorders, and Dreams

LEARNING TARGETS

1.5-8 Explain the effects of sleep loss.
1.5-9 Explain the major sleep disorders.
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Not for redistribution.

1.5-10 Describe the most common content of dreams, and explain the functions

theorists have proposed for dreams.
Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
Sleep Deprivation

1.5-8 How does sleep loss af fect

1.5-8 How does sleep loss affect us? us?
When our body yearns for sleep but does not get it, we begin to feel terrible. Trying to stay
awake, we will eventually lose. In the tiredness battle, sleep always wins. In 1989, Michael
Doucette was named America’s Safest Driving Teen. In 1990, while driving home from col-
lege, he fell asleep at the wheel and collided with an oncoming car, killing both himself and
the other driver. Michael’s driving instructor later acknowledged never having mentioned
sleep deprivation and drowsy driving ( Dement, 1999 ).

Effects of Sleep Loss
Modern sleep patterns — the “Great Sleep Recession” — leave us not only sleepy but
also drained of energy and our sense of well-being ( Keyes et al., 2015 ; Thorarinsdottir
et al., 2019). After several nights in which we obtain only 5 hours of sleep, we accumulate a
sleep debt that cannot be satisfied by one long sleep. “The brain keeps an accurate count of
sleep debt for at least two weeks,” reported sleep researcher William Dement (1999 p. 64 ).
,
Obviously, then, we need sleep. Sleep commands roughly one-third of our lives —
some 25 years, on average. Allowed to sleep unhindered, most adults paying off a sleep debt
will sleep at least 9 hours a night ( Coren, 1996 ). One study demonstrated the benefits of unre-
stricted sleep by having volunteers spend 14 hours daily in bed for at least a week. For the first
few days, the volunteers averaged 12 hours of sleep or more per day, apparently paying off a AP Science Practice
®
sleep debt that averaged 25 to 30 hours. That accomplished, they then settled back to 7.5 to
9 hours nightly and felt energized and happier ( Dement, 1999 ). Research
Seventy-five percent of U.S. high school students report getting fewer than 8 hours of The results from the CDC and NSF
sleep nightly, with 28 percent admitting they fall asleep in class at least once a week ( CDC, studies discussed here represent
2019b ; NSF, 2006 ). College and university students are also sleep deprived; 69 percent in non-experimental, descriptive
methods, which simply describe
one U.S. survey reported “feeling tired” or “having little energy” on at least several days behaviors. The researchers likely
during the previous two weeks ( Associated Press [AP], 2009 ). One in four Chinese univer- used surveys to obtain data on
sity students has serious sleep problems ( Li et al., 2018 ). The going needn’t get boring before the students’ self-reported sleep
behaviors.
students start snoring.

Sleep: Sleep Loss, Sleep Disorders, and Dreams Module 1.5c 103

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