The New York Times features several U-M students in an article today about college students and sleep deprivation:“Lack of Sleep takes its toll on student psyches”
Like many college students, Jenny Waller, 21, is something of a night owl. In her first weeks at the University of Michigan a few years ago, Miss Waller rarely went to bed before 3 or 4 in the morning.
“In college,” she said, “your mom isn’t there to tell you to go to bed, and for me, things only got worse. Within a month, I was staying up all night, going to bed at 9 a.m. and pretty much missing all of my classes. Many nights I would sit with my textbooks, but I couldn’t concentrate. I wouldn’t let myself get to bed until I finished the work. …
Three months later, Miss Waller was told that she had clinical depression, and she temporarily withdrew from college.
[…]
Jodi Keller, 19, an undergraduate at Michigan, attributes her first serious episode of depression to a lack of sleep and the overcrowded schedules that most students accept as normal routine.
“When short of time,” Ms. Keller said, “it’s always sleep that I sacrifice first. I can’t remember how many all-nighters I have pulled in order to complete my schoolwork and get good grades.”
Another Michigan undergraduate, Victoria Chien, 21, has been treated for serious episodes of clinical depression since she was 17. Miss Chien said, “When I don’t get adequate rest, my depression becomes much more severe.”
Nevertheless, she remains active in the late-night culture.
“Sleep deprivation,” Miss Chien said, “is a pretty big problem for me. I try to make it up over the weekends, but it doesn’t help much.””