Sleep Stages In Teens
Restful sleep is one of the fundamental requirements for good brain development in adolescents. Young people often underestimate the importance of following the recommended rest hours for a balanced life.
The vitality that comes with age seems to make up for the lack of adequate rest. However, the five phases of sleep in adolescents are as real as they are essential, especially considering that each phase responds to purely biological needs, corresponding to the phase of life they are going through at the moment.
Since the amount of rest the body requires varies according to the biological cycle the person is in, in adolescents this amount increases. That is, a child or young person aged 11 to 17 will need at least 9 or 10 hours of sleep a day.
It is common for teenagers to have difficulty waking up in the morning. This is because of the natural tendency to sleep until completing the cycle of sleep phases that the body needs.
Why Follow Sleep Stages in Adolescents
The function of sleep, at any age, is to repair and rest the body and mind. When sleeping, a series of cell regeneration processes are activated in order to obtain energy. It is also during sleep that some hormones, such as growth hormones, can increase in production.
On the other hand, the mechanisms of memory, daytime attention and fixation of learned contents or subjects are carried out during sleep hours.
Given these reasons, it is understood that, for adolescents, whose brain is completing development, it is vital to take care of the quality and quantity of sleep. Lack of adequate rest can have a negative influence on the psychological sphere, on physical and academic performance, and even on behavior.
An adult can consciously master impulses and emotions. In teenagers, however, this is still part of a learning process that, in order to be completed, requires respect for the biological rhythms of the body and mind.
What are the five stages of sleep in teenagers?
Sleep cycles have been described in five phases since 1957. The model by WC Dement and N. Kleitman, who conducted their research using electroencephalograms, is still valid today. However, some updates were made through modern instrumentation.
In practice, it is known that each sleep phase lasts about 100 minutes. It is also known that the five phases are repeated cyclically and continuously. They start in a light sleep state and move into deep sleep until they reach the lighter REM state, which prepares for awakening.
First phase
The falling asleep or transition phase comprises 5% of total sleep. This transition occurs between wakefulness and sleep and reappears with each repetition of the cycle. This is the phase known for recording alpha waves, the same ones that occur during moments of relaxation while we are awake.
Second level
Here the disconnect with the environment starts to intensify. Therefore, this allows sleep to gradually become deeper, and muscle and physiological activities decrease.
It is a light sleep that occurs after the first fall asleep. This phase constitutes approximately 50% of total sleep and gives rise to beta waves.
third and fourth phase
Deep or delta sleep occurs in these phases. Among the sleep phases in adolescents, phases 3 and 4 are of great importance, as well as the others, although it is in this phase that the body’s recovery occurs more strongly.
fifth phase
This is slow sleep, which takes up 25% of total sleep. In this phase, parasomnias or sleep disorders appear: sleepwalking, night terrors, nocturnal enuresis.
In summary, sleep phases in adolescents must be respected for adequate mental and emotional development. The fact that teenagers sleep a lot is undoubtedly a sign of health.
