Recently I had the privilege of researching different subjects that interest me. For example, during my second semester as an undergraduate,I was interested in researching regarding the importance of sleep and was given the task of analyzing literature concerning my topic. This resulted in me getting more insight into the impact of sleep, which I feel is important for us as people to understand. Naturally, as a science major, it has always been in me to question the very things that make us human. What I found was simple:Sleep is an essential part of our well being. I then took my knowledge to conduct an argument explaining to the masses why my topic was so important. At one point, I had to use my communication/social skills in order to conduct a survey asking people about their sleep patterns and their sleep habits. The interaction between myself and those I surveyed shed light into why Im so passionate about the things I do and the research I conduct.

The Information

During the semester I interacted with many forms of media, ranging from small articles to videos, showcasing the importance and emphasizing the point that many Americans, especially my community, fails to get the amount of sleep necessary to function. One of the videos I used to to conduct my research can be seen below.

One piece of data I collected during my research highlights my topic perfectly. According to Allison Brown she notes “Poor sleep affects mental health by disrupting our circadian rhythms and interfering with our normal sleep stages, thereby throwing our bodies and our brains off kilter.”(Brown 2020) Further down in that article explains how sleep deprivation can influence your daily life actions and choices. In short having sleep disorders such as insomnia , are more likely to go through things such as depression, anxiety, and in extreme cases, suicide(Brown, 2020).

These two graph perfectly sums up the correlation between lack of sleep and depression/suicide. As you can see, the more someone experiences sleep disorders such as insomnia, the more likely they are to fall into depression/suicide.

Researchers from the CDC showcased just how much of a problem sleep deprivation is in the U.S alone. According to them, “More than a third of American adults are not getting enough sleep on a regular basis” (CDC 2019). Similarly to Brown, they list the consequences of not getting enough sleep, since sleep deprivation causes an increase risk for obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Both the CDC, and other researchers such as Saravanan Ram shares that even certain demographics plays a role in sleep deprivation. For example, blacks and latinos are more likely to get less quality sleep than whites(CDC 2019). Additionally, middle aged men are less likely to get quality sleep compared to women. Although these articles do go into why these phenomena occurs, we can safely conclude that this is due to lifestyle differences, as well as accessibility to healthcare between the different demographic groups

Why is this important?

My aim with this knowledge obtained is to become a great communicator and help out those in need. When I conducted my survey my aim was not only to collect data, but to also inform people about the importance of my topic. I plan on using this learning experience to aid me with future projects. For example, the articles I researched gave some ideas on how to combat sleep deprivation, such as setting up a sleep schedule and practicing good sleep hygiene. As someone who aims to be in the science field, it is necessary for myself to put myself in a position where analyzing research is top priority. In the future, the lessons I learned, from both the time researched and creating my own research, will be used in future projects, where I am to educate the masses on important information that seemingly goes unnoticed.