“Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being throughout your life. The way you feel while you are awake depends in part on what happens while you are sleeping” (NIH 2022). Sleep is a crucial factor for an individual’s well-being. However, more and more adolescents have shown signs of sleep deprivation, and some are not even aware of it. According to the Cleveland Clinic, “Sleep deprivation is when you aren’t sleeping enough, or you aren’t getting good, quality sleep.” Affecting anyone, sleep deprivation is linked to numerous adverse effects, like the development of health issues and a decrease in work efficiency.
Sleep deprivation is linked to the development of health issues such as hypertension (high blood pressure) and mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. According to the Mayo Clinic, a lack of sleep can lead to “ swings in hormones,” and irregular hormone levels could lead to the development of “high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease” (2024). Hormonal irregularities in the human body can have serious consequences, including high blood pressure. As per the Columbia Department of Psychiatry, “Sleep deprivation studies show that otherwise healthy people can experience increased anxiety and distress levels following poor sleep” (2022). This shows that, in healthy people, poor sleep can lead to mental health disorders due to the increase in stress. Overall, inadequate sleep and sleep deprivation show adverse health effects in adolescents because they lead to hormone fluctuations and increased levels of stress, which are key factors in the development of mental health disorders.
Sleep deprivation is also linked to reduced work efficiency. According to Rob Newson, a writer on sleep and mental health, “Neurons in the brain become overworked, impairing thinking, slowing physical reactions, and leaving people feeling emotionally drained” (2025). This shows how sleep deprivation leads to an internal problem in an individual’s brain, specifically their neurons, and this, in turn, leads to fatigue, slower reaction time, and irregularities in mood. Together, these factors make it harder for one to focus and put in full effort into their work. This relates to adolescents and sleep deprivation because they may feel more tired after less sleep the night before school, leading them to perform poorly on tests and struggle to pay full attention during class lectures. According to the Division of Sleep and Medicine published by Harvard Medical School, “Inadequate sleep appears to affect the brain’s ability to consolidate both factual information and procedural memories” (2021). This article focuses on the college student population and states that many students do not get the recommended hours of sleep per night. Because sleep is crucial for brain processing and memory, a lack of sleep can lead to memory problems and make it harder for people to process information. A lack of these processes can lead to problems with learning and retaining information, which later leads to a decrease in a student’s academic performance.
Overall, a lack of sleep negatively affects the brain’s ability to process and store information while also leading to an increase in mood disorder symptoms like stress and depression. Sleep deprivation can also lead to hormone irregularities, which can lead to cardiovascular problems like high blood pressure or hypertension. Sleep deprivation is a serious issue that is shown across multiple studies, and its adverse effects show the importance of spreading awareness and bringing intervention across adolescents and other age groups.
Works Cited
Cleveland Clinic. “Sleep Deprivation: What It Is, Symptoms, Treatment & Stages.” Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, 11 Aug. 2022, my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23970-sleep-deprivation.
Harvard Medical School. “Sleep and Memory.” Sleep.hms.harvard.edu, 1 Oct. 2021, sleep.hms.harvard.edu/education-training/public-education/sleep-and-health-education-program/sleep-health-education-88.
Lopez-Jimenez, Francisco. “Sleep Deprivation: A Cause of High Blood Pressure?” Mayo Clinic, 9 July 2024, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/expert-answers/sleep-deprivation/faq-20057959.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. “How Sleep Works – Why Is Sleep Important?” National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 24 Mar. 2022, www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep/why-sleep-important.
Newsom, Rob, and Heather Wright. “Sleep & Job Performance: Can Sleep Deprivation Hurt Your Work?” Sleep Foundation, Sleep Foundation, 19 Apr. 2022, www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene/good-sleep-and-job-performance.