Up All Night: Your Sleep Issues Solved

It’s 3 a.m. on a weekday. Instead of catching up on beauty sleep or resting up before the big quiz in the morning, you’re lying awake in bed, and you don’t know why. In college, we often give up precious sleep for noble causes (whether that involves books or red Solo cups), but it’s frustrating when you actually want to go to sleep — but can’t. What’s a girl to do when counting sheep is keeping us up even longer? HC got the scoop on common sleeping problems, relaxation techniques, sleep disorders and more, so that you can put your cute Victoria’s Secret PINK PJs to use and get some serious shuteye tonight!

What’s Keeping You Awake?
What keeps college girls up at night? The most common causes include a night owl schedule, stressful lifestyle or too much mental stimulation before bed.
 
Many of us have a syndrome called delayed sleep phase. “Teens and young adults often have delayed sleep phase, meaning they don’t feel sleepy until later in the night or in the wee hours of the morning,” says "Lisa Shives, MD, spokeswoman for SleepBetter.org and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. This sleep issue is not a serious medical problem, but it ensures that you’ll be up watching 90’s reruns on Nickelodeon instead of being tucked into bed late at night. Delayed sleep phase is common among collegiettes™ because of hectic schedules, rationing time between classes, work, sports, activities and our busy social lives. For many of us, this leads to studying, partying or otherwise staying awake late into the night on a frequent basis. “It is a lot to fit into a 24 hour day, and the activity that seems expendable is sleep,” Dr. Shives says. But even though you’re not being graded or judged on how much sleep you get, it’s important to establish a healthy sleep routine so that you can function normally during the day.