Sleep Duration and Quality - Essay Example

            When I go through some research by health researchers on the essence of sleep I fail to understand why I was always adamant when my mother used to request me to sleep as early as 9 pm, a time when my TV programs were shown on the TV. I always thought she did not love me, and as a result of that, she instilled punishment in me by forcing me to sleep early. Luckily, she never gave up on me despite my uncouth behaviors when it came to issues related to time for sleep. I think I would have developed reasoning complications and failed in my early academics if I did not have enough sleep in my early childhood. This is in tandem with WebMD's assertion that too little sleep results in memory problems in young children (WebMD, 2015).

            I remember receiving the news of joining a high school with a lot of joy. I believed that was the only way I was to overcome the occasional monitoring of my mother. I thought joining high school will make me control my life and time. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Just like my mother, the boarding teacher was very serious about the issue of sleep. His house was close to our dormitory, and as a result of this, he ensured all students were asleep by 10 pm before leaving for his home. The school program also required students to be awake between 5.30 and 6 am. In other words, it was a rule for all students to sleep for approximately 8 hours. According to the boarding master, enough sleep was very important because it reduces the chances of becoming sick or developing depression. His claim is in connection with the consequences associated with too little sleep by WebMD (2015). According to WebMD, too little sleep results in depression as well as the awakening of a person’s immune system, increasing the chances of that person becoming sick. In connection with these assertions, I can confirm that I have never been sick since I joined high school.

            I hope that the maintenance of my 7 to 8 hours sleeping pattern will enable me to enjoy my life in the future. This is in relation to Pagel and Pandi-Perumal’s (2007) claim that 7 to 8 hours of sleep is very essential to adults. Thus, there is no likelihood of me developing health complications such as obesity and diabetes. I also hope that spending enough time on sleep in the future will protect me from heart attack and hypertension because enough sleep will enable me self-regulate my emotions.