Sleep: Why Bother?

The importance of sleep in everyone’s lives, especially adolescents, was the subject of a recent talk given by Dr. Helene A. Emsellem, a nationally known sleep expert and medical director of The Center for Sleep and Wake Disorders in Chevy Chase, Md., to Westminster students and faculty. Dr. Emsellem spoke about the functions of sleep, the consequences of insufficient sleep, the stages of normal sleep, what makes teens’ sleep special and coping strategies to get more sleep.

“Only 20 percent of adolescents get the recommended nine and a quarter hours of sleep on school nights,” said Dr. Emsellem. “And 51 percent of teens who drive, say they have driven drowsy.”

She described how many teens get caught up in a vicious cycle of sleep deprivation that can lead to poor school performance, impaired social function, poor sports performance, headaches, lack of energy, depression and mood disorders, misdiagnosis of ADD, acne and obesity. She also pointed out the importance of sleep to learning.

Dr. Emsellem is the author of “Snooze … or Lose! 10 ‘No-War’ Ways to Improve Your Teen’s Sleep Habits,” a book to help teens understand the importance of sleep and to empower them to own and improve their sleep-wake habits and schedules.

“We can push ourselves to stay awake longer, but we pay the price for this,” she said. “You need to own your life and your body, and understand the forces at play.” She encouraged students to create a good sleeping environment, to be organized, to avoid caffeine, to have an Internet sign-off time, to avoid late afternoon napping and to wind down at the end of the day.

Dr. Emsellen promotes sleep disorders awareness and the need for sleep education locally and nationally. After graduating from the George Washington University (GWU) School of Medicine and completing a rotating internship that included psychiatry, internal medicine and neurology, she completed a neurology residency at GWU and subspecialty training in epileptology and clinical neurophysiology at Johns Hopkins University. She then returned to GWU in an academic career track in the Department of Neurology. She has served as the principal investigator in numerous national studies of investigational agents for the treatment of sleep disorders.