Poor Sleeping by Linda Hernandez

            Is there anything better than sleep… well maybe cheesecake! Sleeping is nice; it allows one to forget about everything for a little while. However, the monster known as nightmares can destroy this beauty called sleep. In many cases, the nightmare destroying sleep is money because an individual can be working, have a sleep disorder, anxiety and stress are part of the individual’s daily routine, and even the technology we considered as bettering life can actually be ruining our sleep. Of course, the reason and motives variety depending on the individual’s age, sex, marital status, education, healthcare insurance and most importantly one’s socioeconomic status.

            According to Illinois Legal Aid, the age requirement to work in the state of Illinois is 16 with hours regulated. This gives growing up and enjoying the adolescent years another meaning because now I teenager can place money as a priority. A single parent and even a married couple if children are part of the family equation and other household responsibilities must also make money their priority instead of giving love, bonding, and enjoyment. One may ask well why is that money gives what should be each individuals’ priority another meaning this is because having money as a priority can lead to the taking of any job regardless of the wage, environment, and even work shift. In chapter 8 of Biological Psychology from James W. Kalat states that one of the main reasons for sleep interruption is work shifts. This meaning that the time frames many individuals work affects the amount of sleep one receives and then of course that then leads to a chain reaction. Receiving little to no sleep due to work is like a snowball rolling down a hill of snow it will continue to grow and consequences will be sure to follow.

 However, it has to be understand that many individuals usually adults take on jobs during the night or ridiculously time frames because they have a family to support, utility bills to pay off, children’s education, a mortgage, car payments, or whatever other financial burden one has. For example, my mother is a single parent of three children ages 20, 17, and 7. Since my mother is a single parent of children of vary ages all her children come with different financial needs such as, her daughter of 20 needs help paying for school, her daughter of 17 has sports and other school fees, and her son of 7 has sports fees and after school care. Her children’s financial needs plus the utility bills, rent, gas money for the week, and other incidents that require of money along the way. Due to all the money responsibilities this single parent has she must have a morning job from 8 AM to 4 PM an eight hour shift which is very normal for adults, but this mother must also then delivers newspaper during the early morning hours from about 4 AM till 7 AM. With this work schedule this single parent is getting about 5 to 6 hours of sleep because when she comes home she must than care for her family needs before she can get rest. This is one of the many cases of families that due to money shortage and needs must take two or more jobs or longer hours at work to be able to sustain their household. Now, remember I mentioned at the beginning that economic difficulty has a snowball effect of growing for example because this single parent has three children and responsibilities, stress and anxiety are part of her daily routine, she has to take two jobs to be able to survive and provide for her loved ones which led to her getting little to no sleep, and then that can possibly lead to health complications.

Would this be different if a single parent had her husband by her side also contributing to the monetary burden possibly, but even when the couple is working together money can become a headache. In a way yes, having two to help with money complications, support for one another, which help sharing the stress and anxiety, and more sleep can be given to both parties due to the sharing of the time. This is unless the reason for why rest and sleep is not happening is because the time shift at work is not an issue but instead a sleep disorder is. According to National Sleep Foundation, a few of the most common sleep disorders include insomnia, sleep talking, bedwetting, REN behavior disorder (RBD), and then the affect of other health conditions on sleep such as Asthma and sleep. A sleep disorder can be the cause of not receiving enough sleep because it is a disorder that its impacting sleep but also, if an individual with a sleep disorder is uneducated or does not count on medical insurance or extra money for treatment then the disorder goes untreated. Or even if an individual was educated about their condition but the resources are not available to get treatment such as medication, therapy and other forms of treatment the condition will continue to cause problem on the individual’s sleep pattern. A sleep disorder can happen to either an adult or a young adolescent and age can also have an impact on how a disorder is treated and if it is even treated.

What has been praised as a progress in society has also, become a nightmare for sleep. Technology if used correctly can have a positive influence on education, careers, and just everyday daily routine but at the same time if a limit control does not exist then it can have a negative influence. For example, in nowadays teenagers state one cannot live without their cellular device because it contains their social network accounts, camera and pictures, music, games, and whatever other thing they can squeeze out of the device. Since cellphone devices are becoming so “handy” by helping staying organize, entertain, and informed about the world the act of placing a using limit and actually going about turning off the phone it is seemed as an “impossible” task for young adults and in recent times adults themselves are guilty as well. However, because of the lack of education that anytime the power is turned on cell phones emits electromagnetic radiation. This exposure to this radiation then has the power of being harmful to one’s body and sleep. Such as blurry vision, headaches, fatigue, memory loss. Studies have shown that people who sleep with a cellphone by the bed have poor REM sleep, leading to impaired learning and memory. As much as technology is made seemed as great there is bad side to it as there is to everything else, the using of technology or just having it near during sleep not only disturbs sleeping but also the learning process and memory. If the younger generations and even the older ones are allowing for “smart” phones to impact their learning and memory than those with a low socioeconomic status that can only afford a phone for the real emergencies and needs are on top of everyone else that fell into the trend. Being of a lower socioeconomic status is not always negative like in this case because many families have other priority and economic obligations they choose to not make the purchase of “smart” phones and whatever other technology and then allow for their sleep to not be interrupted by it without having the knowledge of it.

Not sleeping due to money is usually because an individual and his loved ones are living paycheck to paycheck which Chicago Fox 32 News reported that according to a study done by Springleaf Financial Strength Survey, 33 percent of Chicagoans are living paycheck to paycheck this is about 1 out of every 3 Chicago resident. If this is the case the individual then is adding stress and anxiety as part of their daily routine because many of the costs are rising and there is no money in a saving accounts for those financial emergencies. If stress and anxiety of part of the equation for lack of sleep the individual with or without education will most likely intake sleeping medication for example, on How to get away with Murder, a new show that premiere this fall on television about a lawyer and some of her law students representing “unwinnable” cases. Well one of the cases they represented was about a real estate woman who due to work reasons she had a babysitter for her two adolescents and take sleeping pills because her late nights of work had turned into insomnia forcing her to began taking sleeping pills. When this woman took the sleeping pills she would be guilty of talking and walking her sleep, wake up to her have eaten sweets and other strange things. When a decision is made about consuming sleeping medication the side effects need to be taken under consideration especially if no medical insurance is present, there is no beforehand education, and there is no money saved for emergencies. Some of the most common side prescription sleeping pills according to webMD.com is changes in appetite, constipation, dizziness, heartburn, unusual dreams, weakness, and etc.

Everyone has there one way of coping things such as the most common in taking alcoholic beverages when their was a lost of a loved one or bitting nails when dealing with anxiety or stress. Well same principle applies for the lack of sleep due to financial unstableness or limitations. It is very common that many individuals cope by drinking alcoholic beverages, mood changes, and other ineffective coping methods very possibly because of the limited resources available in their hands. As to comparison to someone with resources it is very likely that there is budgeting and time management involvement, the opening of a savings account, both spouses are in many cases financial supporting the household, gym memberships are available for stress relieving, spa treatments and massages can be afford, and most important health care insurance is available for a more precise treatment and medication if needed. This is not to say if money is available for extra things that coping cannot be done effectively there just has to be some education, motivation and will to relax and be able to let go of control on things for the sleeping period. Adults need to work on trusting others and on allowing others in their surrounding to help carry some of the burdens weight as well as to ask for help when needed which in my opinion is something difficult for everyone regardless of age, sex, and ethnicity to do. As for adolescents and young adults we need to work on time management, avoid procrastination, and not fill one’s plate with too much for the time available and age appropriate. I believe everyone should learn how to take a few minutes a day to just be able to breathe and enjoy the small things in life along with thanking God for what one has being that the Bible states that God will provide for all our needs. Remember financial burdens and responsibilities are important but so is sleep and one impacts the other so making smart choices for one will positively affect the other one.

Works Cited

1 in 3 Chicagoans living paycheck-to-paycheck. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2014, from http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/27375552/1-in-3-chicagoans-living-paycheck-to-paycheck

Side Effects of Sleeping Pills: Common and Potentially Harmful Side Effects. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2014, from http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/understanding-the-side-effects-of-sleeping-pills

Sleep Disorders Problems. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2014, from http://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-disorders-problems

Watch How to Get Away with Murder TV Show - ABC.com. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2014, from http://abc.go.com/shows/how-to-get-away-with-murder