On average, people need 7-9 hours of sleep each night in order to keep their minds fresh and bodies healthy. According to the National Institutes of Health, 50 to 70 million Americans are affected by sleep disorders and continuous sleep problems that damage health, alertness, and safety.

Freshman Neha Sunil said, “On average I get 6-7 hours of sleep…causing me to feel tired and exhausted all throughout the day. Due to this, sometimes my eyes start to involuntarily shut down in class.”

Sleep disorders can cause hypertension, heart disease, stroke, depression, and diabetes, which are very critical to health. Most Americans tend to sleep for less than 7 hours a night each weeknight and make the rest of the hours up on the weekends or in naps during the day.

Chief of the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Charles Czeisler said, “That’s an attempt to pay-back sleep deprivation.”

According to Czeisler, sleeping in on the weekends is a disruption in a person’s regimen, causing additional disruption in a person’s sleeping cycle.

Naps are a great way to bring alertness, yet naps should be limited to only 20-30 minutes, otherwise disruption of night sleep can occur.

Czeisler said, “Once you are there [sleep deprived], it is important to get as much sleep as possible as quickly as possible. That is where naps can help a lot.”

Overall sleep is a crucial part of a daily lifestyle and should not be avoided.

Czeisler said, “Duration, timing and quality of sleep are the key factors.”