All-nighters detrimental to student success

We all have experienced the dreaded days of having multiple tests on the same day along with a project or paper due. At times, 24 hours are insufficient to do all we’re trying to do, so we are tempted to pull all-nighters. While this may seem smart at the time, research proves it to be detrimental in the long run.

All-nighters corrode a student’s health; they cause students’ bodies to ache with fatigue and their minds to grow dull during school hours, since neither have been given the opportunity to rest. According to U.S. News Health, pulling all-nighters also causes people’s memory to worsen since it prevents the brain from repairing itself. In fact, getting a few hours of sleep is a better use of time than half-hearted cramming in the early hours of the morning.

In addition, pulling all-nighters is injurious to students in the long term. Sleep allows our bodies to rest and prepare for the next day. If students do not sleep, their immune systems weaken. And if students miss school due to illness, they will create an even larger workload for themselves.

Lack of sleep affects not only students’ immune systems, but also their moods. According to the UC Berkeley Psychology Department, all-nighters induce temporary euphoria. While this may seem like a good thing, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at UC Berkeley Matthew Walker notes that with good rest, the brain finds a good balance on the “mood spectrum”; without it, the brain is prone to constant mood swings that could lead to bad behavior. Pulling all-nighters not only leads to ghastly eye-bags but also alters two significant hormones: leptin and ghrelin. Leptin tells the body when it is full, and ghrelin urges the body to consume. When students are sleep deprived, their bodies produce more ghrelin and less leptin, potentially resulting in weight gain and digestive problems.

According to Dr. Brian Abaluck of Sleep Health Centers in a University of Pennsylvania medical conference on sleep, students who pull all-nighters are more also likely to develop gastrointestinal discomfort. Sleeplessness can modify the way bodies filter glucose, resulting in higher chances of diabetes and kidney failure. He notes that the body handles glucose the same way, regardless of its age. Thus, people should not assume that being younger allows them to be at a lower health risk when engaging in unhealthy activities. 

Instead of pulling all-nighters, students should better their  time management skills. Students who procrastinate for three to four hours a day put themselves in a position of choosing between an all-nighter, or going to to sleep without finishing their homework, a fate which could easily have been avoided if students had planned better.

Besides following the school’s constant advice to avoid overloading their schedules, students should also start working as soon as possible and reward themselves with short, periodic breaks to refresh their minds. This way, they will be able to socialize with their families, finish homework and also sleep for at least six hours and maybe more.