Opinions: You're not in the Olympics

 by Dimple Dhanani
 published on Friday, April 11, 2008

There is a large sector of Americans who are inflicting torture upon themselves in the public eye, well within sight. These people are well-known for their outlandish behavior, but recently studies have shown that this self-inflicted torture may be causing a serious detriment to their overall health and brain function.

In fact, a recent article in Science Daily said that scientists have found that this behavior "affect[s] an individual's memory, ability to perform simple daily tasks, and attention span."

This behavior is sleep.

We run around as if we are in the Olympics, with the "you snooze, you lose" mantra. But even the athletes in the Olympics take a break. In fact, athletes with more sleep are more likely to improve their game, according to a Stanford University study.

No less than a year ago, I found a friend of mine who had decided to go three days without sleep running into doors when trying to open them. Not only does lack of sleep make you seriously dim-witted, but it can also take a drastic toll on your health. And, it can make you fat. This is more than enough reason to get a good night's rest.

These people are all around us, and because you are a college student, the chances are unfortunately excellent that you are one of them. This self-inflicted torture is not what we do but rather what we don't do — that is, we don't sleep.

Of course, there are always caffeine pills and energy drinks with unholy amounts of vitamins and caffeine to pump your energy. Popping pills is a sure-fire way to make you unhealthy and possibly get you suspicious looks from the people who hear that you are popping pills.

Our society runs on a 24/7, 365-day schedule without stopping. When there is an action, or a cause, there must be an effect.

While there will be those who say that sleep is for the dead, for people who do not sleep enough, those words may ring truer than expected. A South Korean man actually died a couple of years ago in a cyber cafe after playing on online game for over 50 hours. Regardless of how advanced technology gets, what goes up must come down and that man's health came down hard.

Most students who are staying up long hours toward the end of the semester are just making the last few feeble attempts at a better grade.

However, Pamela Thatcher, a psychology professor at a New York University said to USA Today, "If you use all-nighters, your GPA is slightly lower on average."

So, losing sleep because of academics is a moot point. Fumbling around in a drunk-like haze, it is easy to see ASU students at night and during the day in the library or cooped up in their dorms working themselves ragged for a better grade, especially toward the end of the semester.

But, studying for three more hours and not sleeping will not help you do better on your final — I promise.

Dimple can be reached by e-mail at: dimple.dhanani@asu.edu.