With exams coming up, it can be very tempting to pull an all-nighter. The idea sounds intriguing, a full night of studying with no sleep, but it will probably end up doing you a lot more harm than good. Many negative things can be connected to pulling frequent all-nighters, the first being weight gain. If you’re staying up all night, you’re most likely snacking on something, and drinking some type of coffee or sugary energy drink, doing this on a normal basis will really add up. Another, more serious effect, is having a less efficient memory. If you aren’t getting good nights of sleep regularly, it will take a toll on what you can remember, and your ability to concentrate. For people who need to maintain a specific GPA for their major, scholarship, etc, it is important to know that students who pull all-nighters regularly have a lower average GPA.
Research conducted by St. Lawrence University showed that students who had never pulled an all-nighter had an average GPA of 3.1, pulling regular all-nighters left student with an average of 2.9. Another, more bizarre, side effect of all-nighters is short-term euphoria. Short-term euphoria will make the student feel really good for a short period of time, but it will also impair decision-making, and will cause them to crash when it passes. There are also long term problems such as diabetes, ADD, stroke, and high blood pressure that can be related to all-nighters. Studying daily in moderation is a much better and more successful strategy for studying.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/30/all-nighter-risks-science_n_3975789.html
http://greatist.com/happiness/all-night-just-how-bad-are-all-nighters
http://www.businessinsider.com/what-pulling-an-all-nighter-does-to-your-body-2012-9?op=1
I would have never thought that pulling an all nighter would have such serious side effects. I actually stayed up all night the other night studying and doing homework. As you mentioned, I drank coffee and snacked on salsa and chips periodically to keep my mind off the fact that I was staying up so late and losing sleep. Having said that, there definitely could be a possibility of correlation between pulling all nighters and weight gain. However, I say possibility because maybe there are some people who are able to stay up all night without eating and drinking.
I definitely agree with you Kathleen. There are worse consequences in staying up all night than doing your work throughout the day. It is more rare for people to pull all nighters than the people who usually stay up all night doing work. In the long run, getting minimal sleep leads to sicknesses, and it is unhealthy.
There are definitely some benefits to all-nighters, but in my opinion, the bad outweighs the good. Even if a person is good at staying up all night, and likes to sleep during the day, it can’t be easy or super healthy to stay up all night then go to class. Something has to be sacrificed when pulling an all-nighter, whether it be the ability to focus, or even the ability to be in a good mood.
Kathleen, I completely agree with most of your points, but I think that pulling all nighters for some people is beneficial. I think that some people are just biologically predisposed to sleep during the day and do activities and homework throughout the night. I believe that it all depends on preferences and a person’s personality, but if someone is used to going to bed early, then pulling all nighters would be a bad idea.
I feel as though this was a great topic considering all of us can relate to it. Sleep is something that most of us do not take serious enough which causes us to be sleep deprived. This then leaves the student to sit in class have asleep and barely retaining any of the information being thrown at him or her. Sleep is important and especially during finals pulling an all nighter can only hurt you. Your body needs sleep and by pulling an all nighter you are only taking away from your health.
This article is very relate-able due to the fact that so many of us are contemplating pulling an “all-nighter” soon with exams coming up so soon like you said. I decided to research the benefits of staying up all night to study, and I was surprised to find there was some. Some positives include increasing mental stamina, and improvement in concentration and focus. I still would prefer not to stay up all night, as the health risks associated with it are far too great.
I never even thought about the correlation between staying up late and weight gain but it actually makes a lot of sense. When people are staying up all night and trying to stay awake they snack unhealthily. Not only does sleep deprivation lead to weight gain, but sleepless nights can also damage our digestive systems. Many teens don’t realize how important it really is for us to get the sleep that we need.