Margin: In the article "Alert Management: Naps in OperationalsSettings," based off of a study by NASA on letting pilots take 40minute power naps, they found that there was an improvement inmedian reaction time. The rest group had a 16 percent average oflapses, compared to the 34 percent in the no-rest group. NASAresearchers found that napping before a night in 40 minutes "powernaps" you may be up extra late increased alertness the next day, sonapping can be used to prevent drowsiness, rather than just tocatch up on lost sleep.
Freshman Beth Hunter starts her day with a buzzing alarm at 7a.m. Still drowsy, she throws on some clothes and pulls her hairinto a ponytail before heading to class.
Then she returns from class and collapses into a quick nap.
"I take a nap everyday after class," she said. "Since I have an8 a.m. class every day, I'm pretty tired. Plus, it is so noisyoutside [of my dorm] I don't go to sleep until midnight orlater."
According to study done by Cornell University in 1997, Hunter isnot alone. The study found that 81 percent of undergraduates takeat least one nap a week, and 17 percent reported napping at leastfour days a week, Lisa Thomason, health educator at Ball State,said.
"I've seen written in popular magazines that a short nap can beinvigorating," David Haber, John and Janice Fisher DistinguishedProfessor of Wellness, said. "And certainly students are going tooccasionally need to nap because they are sleep-deprived due tostudying, partying or who knows what. As a lifestyle, however, itis not good. Even among older adults, where napping is notuncommon, the sleep hygienists encourage steps to improve nighttimesleeping and eliminate the daytime naps if possible. Over thelong-term, the same advice applies to younger adults."
Many doctors say that young adults need eight to 10 hours ofsleep a night to be fully rested and to perform at their highestlevels, but with the demands of an academic load, work schedulesand extracurricular activities, that can be hard to achieve,Thomason said.
While short naps can refresh and make it easier to get through along day after little sleep, anything longer can have more negativeeffects.
"Sleep time is cumulative, so finding times to nap can help ifyou can't get enough sleep at night," Thomason said. "Most of thesleep time during a nap is considered non-REM sleep, which is whenthe body recharges itself. When naps are 90 minutes or less, theytypically will not shorten the amount of sleep a person will getthe next night. Napping for longer than 90 minutes, however, or tooclose to your regular bedtime, may throw off your sleep cycle."
Though napping is an enjoyable activity for most people, nappingwhen homework or other things need to be done is something studentsavoid.
"I try to take a nap as often as I can so I can keep up myenergy in my classes and also so I won't be as tired at night whenI actually need to work," Ciera Walton, a freshman at Ball State,said. "I try not to take naps though when I'm swamped with work.That just makes everything worse. But a nap here and there isalways very refreshing and needed."
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