WHY PROPER SLEEP PATTERN IS A MUST FOR STUDENTS THIS MONTH
With many students taking their exams during Ramadan, experts are advising them on catching up on sleep and how to manage their diet, exercise, rest and studying routines during this month.
Dr Issam Badaoui, medical director at International SOS in Dubai, said: “Though Ramadan has fallen during the school term over the past few years, this year most students will be preparing end-of-year projects and taking final exams before the Eid Al Fitr break in mid-June.”
“That is why we are dedicating our annual awareness efforts to the education sector, to help ensure a smooth and successful end-of-term period for students, staff and parents alike,” he said.
Excessive revision and its impact on sleep patterns can have serious repercussions both mentally and physiologically, according to Tanya Dharamshi, leading counselling psychologist at The Priory Wellbeing Centre, Dubai.
“Sleeping in, napping, going to bed late or sometimes not at all — these are all habits associated with students, but never more so than during the immensely stressful summer exam period. However, alongside a healthy approach to diet, exercise, organisation and stress management, the amount of sleep students achieve is paramount to their overall wellbeing and should form a key part of exam preparation,” explained Tanya.
She highlighted how mental health and sleep are intrinsically linked. “Without proper levels of sleep, we get irritable, stressed and can end up feeling like an amnesiac. In extreme cases it can even lead to depression and panic disorder. Naturally, our coping skills suffer as a direct result. Our tendency to worry increases, so a negative mental health cycle is borne which can be extremely difficult to break.”
For those students who regularly pull ‘all-nighters’ prior to an exam, Tanya has some words of warning: “Studying throughout the night prevents the essential process that takes place during our deepest part of sleep, known as Rapid Eye Movement (REM). It is during this time that our brain processes learned information and stores it in our longterm memory. Without this, we become forgetful, our performance slows down and our mental alertness deteriorates severely.
“After being awake for more than 16 hours continuously, our mental capacity is as impaired as someone who is drunk.”
Previous studies by The Sleep Council in the UK found that in the month leading up to exams, the number of teenagers who managed just five to six hours sleep a night doubled to 20 per cent. The overwhelming majority — 83 per cent — of teens said their sleep was affected by stress and pre-exam nerves, whilst 56 per cent admitted to regularly cramming all their revision for an exam into one night.
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com
Studying throughout the night prevents the essential process that takes place during our sleep. During this time our brain processes learned information and stores it in our memory.” Tanya Dharamshi, counselling psychologist, Priory Wellbeing Centre, Dubai