How Sleep Affects
Mental Health
Interviewer: Leena Mathai (Junior at Ridge High School)
Interviewee: Chad Gillikin - MSW, LCSW (Student Assistance Counselor at Ridge High School)
We decided to interview Mr. Chad Gillikin due to his extensive knowledge and expertise. With his qualifications as a licensed clinical social worker and a master's degree in social work, Mr. Gillikin has interacted with numerous teenagers at Ridge High School, gaining insights into various aspects of their lives. As our student assistance counselor, there is no one better suited to address the issue of student sleep deprivation and its impact on teenage mental health. Having worked in the field for so long he is able to understand not only the symptoms they are presenting with, but also recognize some of the underlying reasons for these symptoms.
Real World Connections
Guantánamo Bay, Cuba
There is a United States military prison located here where, as Mr. Gillikin describes, "enhanced interrogation techniques" took place. What this means is that the officers would prevent prisoners from sleeping by playing "loud music" and making it so they "can't lay down" by chaining their arms to a bar hooked to the ceiling. From there, the prisoners would be interrogated after 15-48 hours once they were unfocused, delirious, and unable to defend themselves. To his point, if a lack of sleep is used as a form of torture, then why would students willingly subject themselves to this? During the school year, when they wake up and feel the same way that the prisoners do, how can they be expected to function during classes?
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mr. Gillikin recently attended a conference at MIT, which was held for "clinicians" and was "sponsored by the athletic department at MIT" which "was populated by two student-athletes, both seniors. Both students proudly spoke about how it was untrue that the students were not getting enough sleep. " In fact, they both said [they] brag more often about how much sleep [they] get." Regularly, they get between nine to ten hours of sleep, even with their sports schedules and homework. They argue that "you don't have enough resources, you don't have enough energy. You can't, your mental acuity, the ability for you to ultimately pay attention and do high-level work efficiently is sacrificed if you don't get enough sleep."
Real World Connections
A lot of the reasons students don't get to bed on time are...anxiety and depression. Students, including those at Ridge, also tend to have terrible eating habits. Terrible eating habits can lead to other health issues, ultimately leading them down the rabbit hole of anxiety and depression. In addition, lack of sleep can worsen these psychological disorders. Pushing ourselves to do what is not natural leads to unnatural and dangerous consequences. "You can't go against humanity... I don't know if perfection is, is attainable. Or even fun" Sleep is necessary for more than perfect attendance and good grades; mental agility is a real thing. As humans can not constantly be preforming at 100% all the time, and without sleep whatever we can do is lowered. "I have this idea of embracing your vulnerability. Be human right, allow yourself to be human because some of the things we ask you to do academically or extracurricular wise here is probably not. Necessarily in line with just being human and being fragile. I feel like kids at ridge oftentimes feel like you have to be perfect, um, or have perfect grades to get to whatever those special schools may be."
Additional Suggestions
During our discussion with Mr. Gillikin he was able to offer some additional suggestions as how to solve this concern. Namely being changing the culture around Ridge. We need to "Stop thinking its a good idea to lack sleep". This wasn't to say that the academic rigor of this institution in anyway should be reduced however, we should stop normalizing the idea that sleeping less corresponds to better performance when it has been shown to not.