Image:
http://static.bigstockphoto.com/thumbs/1/9/3/large/3917149.jpg
Summary/Discussion:
After a long day of school, sports, and homework, many students are exhausted and feel as if all their energy has been drained. They want to take a nap, but don't think they have enough time. Instead, they continue working but are still not even close to how productive they can be with a proper amount of sleep. Sound familiar? Well, maybe teenagers have been making all the wrong choices. A recently taken survey shows that taking a brief nap in the afternoon can be extremely helpful in restoring mental and physical health. Scientists at National Yang Ming University's Sleep Research Center and Institute of Brain Science asked both habitual and non-habitual nappers to take a 30 minute nap so they could monitor the effect it had on them. The results showed that for both habitual and non-habitual nappers, the nap completely refreshed them; it was almost as if they had received a full night's rest. I think that the results from this experiment could be very shocking to many people. A lot of the population may believe that the more sleep you get, the more rested you feel after you wake up. The truth of the matter is that resting for 30 minutes can be much more beneficial than taking a 2 hour nap. I think the reason this is true is because if you only sleep for 20-30 minutes, when you wake up you have not reached the REM, or rapid-eye movement, cycle yet. This means that you have not fallen into completely deep sleep yet so you feel less tired when you get up. The only set back of taking afternoon naps may be the fact that teenagers reach the REM cycle faster than adults. The best way to fix this problem is for teenagers to sleep for 15 minutes rather than 30 so that they do not reach the REM cycle. Personally, I have found this method to be very effective in restoring my energy.
Citation:
China Post. "Taking a brief nap is beneficial to health, aids efficiency:
study." Health & Wellness Resource Center. N.p., 5 Mar. 2011. Web. 8 Mar.
2011. <http://puffin.harker.org:2069/servlet/HWRC/
hits?docNum=A250652227&year2=2011&year1=2010&index3=KE&index2=KE&index1=KE&tcit=0
_1_0_0_0_0&index=BA&locID=harker&rlt=2&text3=&text2=&origSearch=true&text1=sleep&
op2=AND&op1=AND&t=RK&s=11&r=d&items=0&o=&secondary=false&n=10&day2=07&l=d&day1=&m
onth2=03&sgPhrase=true&month1=11&searchTerm=2NTA&c=7&bucket=per>.
study." Health & Wellness Resource Center. N.p., 5 Mar. 2011. Web. 8 Mar.
2011. <http://puffin.harker.org:2069/servlet/HWRC/
hits?docNum=A250652227&year2=2011&year1=2010&index3=KE&index2=KE&index1=KE&tcit=0
_1_0_0_0_0&index=BA&locID=harker&rlt=2&text3=&text2=&origSearch=true&text1=sleep&
op2=AND&op1=AND&t=RK&s=11&r=d&items=0&o=&secondary=false&n=10&day2=07&l=d&day1=&m
onth2=03&sgPhrase=true&month1=11&searchTerm=2NTA&c=7&bucket=per>.
