The Importance of Sleep and Rest

Recently, in my biological concepts of psychology class, we have discussed the concept of sleep and rest and why they are both important. Although the amount of sleep that we get has widespread impacts on many aspects of our lives, rest is often something our fast paced society classified as lower priority. Why do we tend to have such an issue shutting down for the night? Whether it be due to our phone and electronic devices or tough demands of school and work, getting low levels of sleep has become the norm. But, I am here to tell you to stop doing that! Sleep plays an integral role in all aspects of our health. Lack of sleep leads to increased stress (which relates to the cause of many diseases), lower energy, increased appetite, slower/decreased memory, and more. If you are reading this, I advise you to start moving sleep to the top of your priority list and practice good sleep hygiene if you are not already.