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Morning Blues
Get Your Teen out of Bed
By Laura Paul
Dr. Richard D. Simon, Jr. specializes in sleep medicine at Kathryn Severyns Dement Sleep Disorders Center at St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla, Wash. He says people have a group of cells in their brains that account for their biological clocks.
"These cells are programmed to turn on for about 16 hours a day, and they turn off for about eight hours at night usually," Dr. Simon says. "Those cells stimulate us to stay awake. The longer we are awake, the more the brain develops a need to sleep. So the longer I am awake, the sleepier, if you will, my brain gets."
Dr. Simon says many teens build up a significant sleep debt by staying up late. He recommends parents allow their teenagers to participate in evening football games and social events but to keep the morning routine consistent.
"The emphasis on sleep should be on when you wake up – not when you go to sleep," he says. "It should be getting up at approximately the same time every day and getting as much bright light as possible."
According to Dr. Simon, the average human requires eight and a half hours of sleep on a consistent basis, and a teenager needs one half-hour to an hour more. One of the reasons teens need more sleep is that most of the growth hormone secretions occur during stages three and four of sleep.
Dr. Simon speculates that the low average of teen sleep, about six or seven hours each night, may contribute to a teen's risk for depression and even car accidents. He also thinks that sleep deprivation could be partly to blame for teen drug use.