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College students often have difficulty juggling and maintaining their obligations to school, work, and their friends. This may lead to staying up late at night writing a term paper, going out with friends to night clubs, and putting more hours in at work in order to get the money a college student needs. However, all of this can lead to sleep deprivation as well. Although some students simply feel they don't have enough time to accomplish everything, other students deliberately deprive themselves of sleep in order to achieve a natural high. However, not only is a vast majority of college students sleep deprived, an astounding 50% of adults in the United States are not getting enough sleep as well.

The average person spends one third of their life sleeping, which may seem like a waste of time, but the fact is, sleep is vital for our cognitive health and functioning. The fifth stage of sleep, REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is especially important as our brain works its hardest in order to organize long-term memory, integrate new information, repair and renew tissues, nerve cells and other biochemicals; preparing our bodies for the proceeding day.

The effects of sleep deprivation were demonstrated by Randy Gardner, who stayed awake for eleven days in order to obtain an entry in the Guiness Book of World Records. Gardner's symptoms grew in severity with each day that he did not sleep. The first few days, he experienced difficulty focusing his eyes, moodiness and irritability. On the fourth day he began to experience hallucinations, the first being that he imagined he was a famous black football player. The proceeding days, Gardner experienced more hallucinations, his speech became slow and slurred, he had difficulty naming common objects, and had frequent memory lapses. The last days of the experiment, Gardner became increasingly paranoid, had a short attention span, and a expressionless appearance.

Although these are not symptoms for the common sleep-deprived person, they demonstrate the effects prolonged sleep deprivation can have on an individual. For most people who are sleep deprived, they may experience impaired performance, irritability, lack of concentration, and daytime drowsiness. And because sleep is associated with a restorative process, a sleep-deprived person may suffer from a weakened immune system. Also, sleep deprivation may not just effect an individual, but the welfare of others as well. Approximately one third of drivers will fall asleep behind

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