Oxford Professor of Circadian Neuroscience, Russell Foster, has claimed that we are getting as much as two hours less sleep per night compared to sixty years ago.
In an article published by the BBC, Professor Foster and other sleep experts warned that in the modern world, too much use of gadgets late at night and reliance on caffiene to stay awake is evidence of us becoming “arrogant” in our attitude to our body clocks.
Citing teenagers as particularly bad offenders, Foster recalls meeting those who needed sleeping tablets in the evening and multiple energy drinks in the morning to function properly.
Cherwell spoke to some students with odd sleeping habits. One commented, “I was sleeping between twelve and fifteen hours a day, but this was during the day. So I’d wake up at night and generally go to bed at about 5 or 6 am. I only usually woke up if I had a tute to go to.”
Tom Nicholls, a first year physicist at Hertford, recalls having problems with sleep at the beginning of the university year. “In the earlier terms I had days when I just didn’t sleep. I even broke the forty-eight hour mark at one point.”
Alex Benn, a first year archaeology and anthropology student, cited access to technology as a cause of bad sleeping habits. He commented, “Generally, I browse the internet until I get so exhausted that I fall asleep.”
Another believed that the conundrum of balancing work and social life is the culprit. “Stuff builds up, and then also you’re so stressed that you can’t sleep. The only time you can socialise properly is 10pm onwards.”
Hertford Welfare Rep Gabriel Nicklin advised that students attempt to sleep better, especially during the exam period. He explained, “By that I mean getting into a good sleep rhythm. It may seem impossible during term time, but if I manage to get at least eight hours a night for three or four days on the trot I feel like a different person.
“Much better than sleeping for four hours for a few nights then lying in for twelve hours. If you can get into a good pattern in the run up to an exam, it will help you think more rationally and access that information you have been cramming in during revision much easier.”
