Teenagers, Sleep, and Life
We know from research that as of 2018, almost 60% of middle schoolers and over 72% of high schoolers in the U.S. are sleep deprived. A more recent study shows that Covid-19 has significantly impacted adolescent sleep globally. So, we will assume that the number of teens walking through their days sleep-deprived is even higher. This means that if you are a middle school or high school staff member, 60%+ of your students try to sit, focus, socially relate, and effectively function while chronically sleep-deprived.
We know sleep is the primary need and activity of the developing brain. And we know that development and changes in the brain during adolescence are extensive. Therefore, the dangers of sleep deprivation for adolescents are legion.
They include but are not limited to:
Higher risk of injury during athletics/sports
An increase in depressive symptoms
Higher risk for suicidality
Intensified aggressive behavior
Intensified emotional reactivity
Increased school dropout rates
Impaired memory and compromised ability to learn
Delayed emotional development
Poor eating habits
Trouble focusing, lower test scores, and negatively impacted academic performance
Higher risk for car accidents
So how do we make sense of the epidemic of sleep deprivation in our adolescent population? And how do we shift our teenagers' relationship to sleep?
Why can't teens sleep?
Two causes intersect in a disastrous way for teenagers. The first is the natural change in the sleep cycle, which occurs with the onset of puberty. Teens undergo a shift in their circadian rhythms, which tells their bodies that they need to stay up later at night and sleep later in the morning.
The second cause is the standard early start time for middle and high schools. Our kids are dragging themselves into the classroom, setting the tone for the rest of the day. The cascade of effects can make life miserable for the child and everyone around them.
Adolescents are affected by the delayed sleep phase (DSPS) differently. For some, it may be resolved by improving sleep hygiene routines. For others, it may be a matter of just trying to get to the other side of adolescence. Many of my adolescent clients cannot regularly fall asleep much earlier than 12:00 am, despite employing proven strategies for sleep.
Depression and anxiety also cause teens to toss and turn far into the night. Research points to a reciprocal relationship between sleep deprivation in teenagers and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Each can cause the other, resulting in a vicious cycle.
Shifting the relationship to sleep
Rubin Naiman, in his brilliant article on the mythopoetics of sleep, says that "sleep is grace. . . . . We presume waking to be the centre of the universe of consciousness, and we relegate sleeping and dreaming to secondary, subservient positions." The implication is that being awake and conscious is not the center of the universe—sleeping and dreaming are.
This is an astounding paradigm shift. Essentially it means that we all must change our relationship to sleep. For teenagers to let go and fall asleep—no matter how the DSPS affects them—means that the adults in their lives must change their relationship as well. Parents and caregivers can exert enormous influence over their children's sleep habits by modeling a positive relationship with sleep and sleep strategies.
It's helpful to take a quick survey of your relationship with sleep. Do you go to bed at a regular time? Do you engage in a healthy bedtime routine? Do you close down monitors, screens, and phones in time to reset the brain for sleep? Do you abstain from caffeine later in the day?
And what are the conversations you are having with your child about sleep? Power struggles will ensue if parents attempt to override their child's embodied circadian rhythms. It's necessary to validate your child's inability to get to sleep and start thinking about what to do about it.
For example:
Plan pleasant, stimulating activities for teens in the afternoon, so they aren't tempted to come home from school and nap.
Incorporate a regular afternoon/evening chat with your teenager so they can unload some of the stress of the day. Let them know you're there for them.
Share the myths and information from Rubin Naiman's article cited above, so they have an expanded and more mythopoetic understanding of sleep.
Engage in an ongoing conversation about their nighttime/bedtime experience. Collaborate with them on problem-solving rather than directing them on what they should do. Trust that they are experts in their own experience.
Educate your child on Delayed Sleep Phase and circadian rhythms so they feel empowered in their sleep experience rather than victims of it. You may want to check out Lisa Lewis's book, The Sleep-Deprived Teen: Why Our Teenagers Are So Tired, and How Parents and Schools Can Help Them Thrive, written in response to her child's sleep issues.
Advocate with your school boards, district administrators, and community members for later school start times. (Note: California will be the first state to make it a law for appropriate start times for middle and high schools as of July 1, 2022.)
Communicate jointly with your child's teachers, inviting collaborative problem-solving regarding homework loads, assignment deadlines, and flexibility if sleep deprivation is affecting the child's ability to complete work on time.
Shifting the paradigm
It is my firm and operating belief that Adolescence is one of the three most vital periods in the human lifespan, the other two being birth and death. From this perspective, the issue of sleep, the mythopoetics of sleep, and the changes in adolescent sleep patterns are something that we need to pay attention to. If we can be responsive to our teenagers and what they need to have healthy amounts of sleep, we can create a paradigm shift in the culture at large.
Imagine the public education systems throughout countries, the communities in which our teenagers live, and those who care for and about teenagers collectively responding to what we know about sleep in Adolescence. What could change?
We'd have millions of teenagers who are no longer sleep deprived, who are sitting at desks ready to learn, and who are relating to their families differently. We'd have millions of teenagers who have the knowledge that their schools and communities care about their well-being. We would have reduced rates of depression, anxiety, and unhealthy risk-taking behaviors in our kids. We would have millions of kids who feel like they matter.
Understanding that we do not sleep so we can have a waking life but that we have a waking life so we can sleep is an entirely different way of understanding what it means to be human. Naiman writes that "sleep is bequeathed from above. That sleep is grace." Peering into the realm of adolescent sleep is to connect with the mythopoesis of life, that which makes this life we're living here on planet Earth something deeper, more relational, and wiser than we might know otherwise.
Photo by AB Photography