Preview

Summary of Sleep Debt

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1166 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Summary of Sleep Debt
Tia M Webb

English 111

Ms. Kearney

8th February 2011

A Summary of "Sleep Debt and Mortgaged Mind." William Dement and Christopher Vaughn in “Sleep Debt and the Mortgaged Mind,” relates sleep debt to a loan. The authors tried to stress the importance of understanding the serious if not fatal consequences of sleep deprivation. We must not only learn to recognize the dangers of sleep debt, but how we should manage it as well. The Authors in this well written article went into details of how we should pay back or sleep debt, and learn from tragic incidents in the world as well as our life’s.
The authors begin the article with a National tragedy that everyone has at least heard about, the Exxon Valdez Disaster. Where the oil tankers spilled millions of gallons of crude oil and it was said to be due to the ship master 's alcohol consumption. In fact, the cause of the crude oil spill was from the third mate, whom was extremely slept deprived. When in fact the in it’s final report that National Transportation Safety Board found that sleep deprivation and sleep debt were the cause of the accident (Dement and Vaughn, 498). When the report from The National Commission on Sleep Disorders Research finally was finished, it identified that sleep deprivation was the “direct cause” of the Exxon Valdez oil spill (Dement and Vaughn, 498.) Although there is an abundance of knowledge about sleep, Dement and Vaughn stated that there is "none is more important than the topic of sleep debt"(498). Sleep debt to this day still remains a concealed and misunderstood on how big of a problem it is in society today.
Sleep deprivation also played an important role in the NASA explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. Although technical complications were the main reason behind the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger (Dement and Vaughn, 499). It was due to in adequate data on the O-ring function at low temperatures and the decision to launch to the space was a



Cited: Dement, William C. and Christopher Vaughn. “Sleep Debt and the Mortgaged Mind.” Writing and Reading Across The Curriculum. eds. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. 11th ed. Boston; Longman, 2011. 497-05. Print.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Sleep plays an important role in our lives. From tiny insects to humongus grizzly bears, every living thing needs sleep. We need it to carry out our daily activities and to live a long and healthy life. Many people fail to realize that sleep is as equally important as breathing, and because of this their bodys are not functioning to their full potentials. Not getting the amount of sleep your body needs can lead to mental and physical health problems. Lack of sleep impairs the mind's way of thinking, can cause health issues and affect your judgment and mood. Sleep is a vital part of life.…

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Sleep, is a natural process when our body is at rest and is increasingly difficult to achieve for more than a third of the U.S population. Despite the advancement in research and study about sleep, there remains a considerable need for increased awareness and education concerning this growing public health problem. In the United States, an estimated 50 to 70 million adults experience chronic sleep loss stated by the Center for disease control and prevention. In addition people need to sleep to function effectively at work and to balance emotional responses. What are the effects of sleep deprivation in healthcare workers? Health care workers are not immune to the ill effects of sleep deprivation. Lack of sleep has been associated with the increased resentment towards patients in the medical system and an increased of incidence of errors at work (Chuah & Chee, 2008). This review will focus on the research conducted on the self-reported health and sleep complaints among nursing personnel working twelve hour night and day shifts.…

    • 1953 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sleep Debt

    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Did you know that famous people napped? If you don't get enough sleep you will get into sleep debt. According to sources #1, one effect of sleep debt is that people have trouble remembering things. Most people are in sleep debt. Although there are claims that a person cannot offset the effects of sleep debt, they are untrue.…

    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sleep Deprivation

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Specific purpose: Sleep is a precious gift that allows people to rest. Not getting enough rest on a constant basis can lead to greater problems, even death…

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hello and welcome to this podcast on the importance of sleep and the effects of sleep deprivation. My name is Indira Paul, and I am a student at the University of Phoenix. I am currently enrolled in PSY/340 Biological Foundations in Psychology. I would like to explain the importance of healthy sleep hygiene in optimal functioning, the effects of sleep deprivation on daily functioning, and also suggest possible approaches to ensure quality sleep.…

    • 929 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Why We Need Sleep

    • 1376 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Cited: Brody, Jane E. "A good night 's sleep isn 't a luxury; it 's a necessity." New York Times31 May 2011: D7(L). Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 5 Oct. 2011.…

    • 1376 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sleep Deprivation

    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages

    College students and hard working adults strive for success each day. In order for them to succeed they need a goodnights sleep. Many students and adults suffer according…

    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sleep deprivation is a common occurrence in modern culture. Every day there seems to be twice as much work and half as much time to complete it in. This results in either extended periods of wakefulness or a decrease in sleep over an extended period of time. While some people may like to believe that they can train their bodies to not require as much sleep as they need, this belief is false. Sleep, by definition, is the natural periodic suspension of voluntary bodily functions and complete or partial suspension of consciousness, during which the powers of the body are restored (Ratcliff & Van Dongen, 2009). Only in the last century have the psychological and scientific areas of study began to investigate and explore the nature, purpose, and properties of sleep. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the value and effect of sleep deprivation on cognition. The majority of articles describe partial sleep deprivation as having negative effects on cognitive, behavioural, physiological, and emotional measures. From this information, it is derived that various cognitive abilities will affect productivity and performance. Therefore, it is hypothesized that sleep deprivation affects cognitive, behavioural, physiological and psychological measures because it increases and worsens stress, impairs cognitive function and emotional stability.…

    • 2522 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    A sleeping disorder that was discussed in Module 7 was Narcolepsy. Many people around the world are affected by this disorder a person with such disorder may go an entire day feeling the urge to sleep and always feeling fatigued. Narcolepsy is defined as a “Chronic disorder that is marked by excessive sleepiness, usually in the form of sleep attacks or short periods of sleep throughout the day. The sleep attacks are accompanied by brief periods of REM sleep and loss of muscle control, which may be triggered by big emotional changes” (Plotnik 163). A person with this disorder will have an extremely eradicate sleep schedule, which can really hinder a person’s capability to live a normal lifestyle.…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It is becoming more and more evident to Major companies that sleep is a necessity that often gets swept under the rug. They are noticing more and more that lack of sleep is a major hamper on your performance in the workplace. Getting a good nights’ sleep is more beneficial than finding ways to work better on less sleep. Companies have to send their employees home early to help them sleep more to keep up with their productivity. Mr. Maas from Cornell University, a psychologist, talks about how we are not keeping ourselves healthy by getting a good nights’ sleep and that it is one of the more important functions for our body. He performs at conferences to talk about sleep deprivation and he sees a lot of stigma about sleeping is for sissies and loafers. The stereotypes for sleeping are…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Third of Life Summary

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Paul emphasizes that the knowledge for such a major part of our lives has been unjustly neglected claiming we as a society are too familiar and very apathetic to this part of our lives. Even in modern medicine, teachings on sleep and sleep disorders are given only an average of 15 minutes, making doctors ill equipped to understand the true benefits and consequences of proper or improper amounts of sleep. Furthermore, this blind eye is shown in sleep’s absence from most of our modern writings. Whereas in history before the electric light bulb and 24-hour society, literature featured much more insinuations of sleep. Paul argues that though there is not an exact knowledge of the extent of sleep deprivation in society, scientists alike agree that sleepiness is a major cause of accidents and injuries.…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sleep Survey

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The author states that sleep is like food for the brain and without a certain amount of sleep a day, the brain can get weak. There are many facts in this article and study based questions and answers that were asked to people about lack of sleep. In this article, readers can find out about various different disorders and problems that lack of sleep can cause the human body to have and how much damage it can bring to one’s everyday learning skills. The article also explains why people should get a certain amount (8 hours) of sleep each night and how they can be healthier than people who lack sleep. The article also has an example of students who get 9 hours of sleep and how well they do with their academic activities compared to students who lack sleep and how it affects their academic…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Speech Topic: The Importance of Sleep Rhetorical Purpose: To inform my audience about how a bad sleep can influence our body physically and mentally, and steps to improve the quality of sleep. Audience Analysis: (Refer to chapter on Audience Analysis)(RU Core Goal: a) Summarize Audience demographics, prior exposure/knowledge, common ground/interest, disposition/attitude, and situational characteristics. Recognizing that most of my audiences are busy with study and after-class activities, I believe that I can make this speech relevant and interesting by drawing connections between the performance of everyday work and the quality of sleep.…

    • 1518 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unfortunately, the demands of life can fail the person to realize the benefits of sleep and consequences of sleep debts. Personally, I sleep less than six hours nightly due to habits formed when I was working the night shift periods. With sleep deprivation, I can catch myself inattentive, clumsy, short-tempered, and forgetful working in the unit. At the end of the day, I would feel very tired to engage in a family conversation or do anything at all. Mindful of the beneficial worth of sleep, I would resolve to improve my sleep hygiene; thus, improving my health as…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Morgan, Kevin, 1950. Sleep and Aging. The John Hopkins University Press, 701 West 40th Street, Baltimore Maryland 21211…

    • 5267 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics