The Real Reason Why College Students are Stressed

January 27, 2011

College officials are saying that the rate of stress and emotional health problems for incoming Freshmen are on the rise. The New York Times did an article recently about the epidemic of mental health problems in our college campuses. They blame the typical reasons such as stress during high school and the poor economy.

As expected, the one thing that they didn’t touch on is the importance of poor sleep as a major aggravator of stress, anxiety, and depression. Even when sleep is sometimes mentioned, it’s usually assumed that poor sleep is a consequence of depression or stress. While that may be true, college is a time of major disturbances in sleep from a physiologic and behavioral standpoint, so it’s no wonder that college students are not only majorly sleep deprived, but are also prone to common conditions such as anxiety, depression, or even eating disorders.

It’s safe to assume that college students don’t get enough quality sleep. This is not surprising, since with newfound freedom, young adults will stay up longer, eat at irregular times, or even pull all-nighters. Not to mention drinking more alcohol later at night. While at home, teens have more regular, structured meal and sleep times, but in college, this is almost nonexistent. Lack of sleep is a major aggravator of physiologic processes that can promote anxiety, overwhelm, and depression.

(Sleep physicians have even stated that teens’ sleep times are shifted later, leading to what’s called delayed sleep phase syndrome. This means that they go to bed later and wake up later. I sometimes wonder if this is a real problem or a consequence of modern society. From what I can tell, hundreds of years ago, teens went to bed at the same time that their parents did.)

But one thing that’s never even considered is the fact that anatomically, the transition from teenage years to adulthood (puberty) also changes your upper airway anatomy. As the voice box drops down in your throat, your voice changes or deepens. Physically, as the voice box drops lower, a larger space is created between the soft palate and the epiglottis, which is called the oropharyx. The more the voice box drops, the more the back of the tongue can rotate back, causing breathing problems when sleeping on your back, especially when you’re in deep sleep, with muscle relaxation.

It’s during the tail end of this transition when teens are let loose on their own at college. I’m guestimating that if some simple sleep hygiene and sleep-breathing principles were followed at your typical college, you can have about 25 to 50% less mental health issues, as well as achieving higher test scores and better academic performance.

In retrospect, if I had implemented what I know now during my freshman year in college, I wouldn’t have had such a hard time adjusting or have had so much trouble handling the coursework.

Do you think this is a feasible proposal, or am I fooling myself in thinking that college students will ever change their habits? What do you think?

Written by Steven Park · Filed Under Blog | Leave a Comment

Why Is Your Teen So Sleepy?

April 21, 2010

Sleepy teens are one of the most ignored groups by the sleep community. Teens are not bigger children, nor are they smaller adults. To dispel some of the common myths and misconceptions about teens and why they are so sleepy, I've invited back Stanford University's internationally renown sleep physician and surgeon Dr. Kasey Li to talk to us about this very important issue.

In this month's Expert Interview, Dr. Li will reveal:

- Why your teen is so tired and sleepy

- Why tonsillectomies don't work all the time

- What happens when children with sleep apnea become teenagers

- What other common sleep conditions besides sleep apnea do teens have?

- What are the treatment options for teens with sleep apnea?

Topic: "Why Your Teen is Sleepy"

Date: April 27, 2010 Time: 8PM Eastern / 5PM Pacific

Click here to register.

Written by Steven Park · Filed Under Blog | Leave a Comment

Sleepy Teens: Expert Interview with Dr. Kasey Li

April 11, 2010

Discover the REAL reason why your teen may be so sleepy…

Sleepy teens are one of the most ignored groups by the sleep medicine community. Teens are not bigger children, nor are they smaller adults. This is why teenagers’ sleep problems often remain hidden, until later on, it develops into a serious sleep disorder like obstructive sleep apnea.

To help you understand why your teen is so tired and what you can do to help them overcome their fatigue, I’ve invited back Stanford’s Dr. Kasey Li, a pioneer in the treatment of sleep breathing disorders to talk to us about this very important issue.

In this hour long, jam packed session Dr. Li will reveal:

#1 reason why parents should never ignore your teenager’s sleepiness (their packed schedule has nothing to do with it!)
Why many tonsillectomies don’t work unless you do “THIS” first
How parents can inadvertently pass on their “sleepy gene” to their teens and what you can do avoid doing so
Which treatment options work and which fail and how you can help your child to get the right treatment

Register below to download and listen to this FREE recording.

* fields are required

Written by Steven Park · Filed Under Expert Interviews, Free Products, Sleep, Sleep Health | 2 Comments

Why Are Teens So Sleepy In The Morning?

February 26, 2010

A number of my friends and acquaintances have commented to me that their teenaged children have a lot of trouble waking up in the morning. The usual explanation is that teens' sleep cycles are shifted, going to bed later and waking up later. Some experts in sleep medicine have even recommended that schools start much later in the morning to accommodate for this phenomenon in teenagers.

Besides shifted sleep cycles, here's another interesting perspective on why teens are so sleepy in the morning:

I've described in previous blogs and in my book, Sleep, Interrupted, the concept of laryngeal descent. Your voice box (larynx) had to drop down below the tongue to allow for complex speech and language. Comparative anatomists and evolutionary biologists have stated that speech and language development was ultimately detrimental to humans. This is why only humans have various breathing and swallowing problems that other animals, for the most part, don't suffer from.

In humans, the voice box continues to descend throughout life, but there are two major stages of laryngeal descent that are important. The first one occurs around 4-6 months, when the voice box drops down from behind the tongue (at vertebral levels C3-C4) to a position below the tongue. This process also create a space called the oropharynx between the soft palate and voice box, where the tongue can fall back more easily. Before this happens, human infants can suckle and breathe at the same time, but during this transition they have to relearn how to swallow and breathe. Interestingly, this is also the time when the rate of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) is at its' highest.

The second stage occurs during adolescence. The voice box begins to drop even further, reaching its' final relative position in the late teens (vertebral level C7). In fact, the voice box continues to drop another 1/2 vertebral height well into your 80s (see figure 2.1 in t his link). In boys, this happens to a greater degree than in girls, leading to a deeper voice in men. As the voice box drops lower and lower, the more your tongue is susceptible to collapse while sleeping supine (on your backs), and when in deep sleep, since your muscles are most relaxed during this time. If you add to this additional dental crowding and jaw narrowing, you'll see that it can explain many of the health problems that all modern humans suffer from.

This leads to less efficient sleep, leading the teen to be attracted to stimulating activities that compensate for this fact. No wonder many teens are so incredibly productive, engaging in sports, clubs, academics, and social activities. Because of this mental, emotional and physical overload, they can't shut down their minds at night, leading to delayed sleep times. But then they are forced to wake up long before they achieve the necessary hours of restorative sleep.

Add to this all the distractions of modern society, including cell phones, texting, chats, light bulbs, computers and TV. Also notice how bright the LED lights are in all the bedroom electronic devices. One modern LED is now 10 times brighter than a traditional night light.

Do your teenaged children have trouble getting up in the morning? What kind of activities are they engaged in during the day? What's their nighttime routine before going to bed? Please enter your response to this blog in the comments box below.

Written by Steven Park · Filed Under Blog | Leave a Comment

New School Year Causes Major Sleep Problems

September 17, 2009

My older son Jonas just started a new school for 5th grade, and my wife and I have to wake up 30 minutes earlier than normal. You’d think 30 minutes isn’t that much earlier, but considering the fact that we’re more tired despite going to bed 30 minutes earlier, only reinforces recent findings that total sleep length is important, but that even a minor time shift in your sleep clock can have a significant effect on how you feel during the day. I’m sure that in a few more days, we’ll be well adjusted, but this brings up how much frequent air travel and time zone changes can stress our bodies.

This is why it’s important to make an effort to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. In most situations, it more important to wake up at the same time every morning, every day of the week. Many people make up for lack of sleep during the week by sleeping in on the weekends, but what you’re doing here is shifting time zones. If you’re really tired when you wake up on the weekends, try exercising first thing in the morning (to get sunlight into your eyes) and taking a short nap in the afternoon.

It seems like these time zone changes are beginning to affect me more and more as I get older. How about you? Do time zone changes affect your energy and level of awakening more now than when you were younger?

Written by Steven Park · Filed Under Blog | 2 Comments