Written by Michelle Bui
Sometimes, focusing too much on academics can make people metaphorically blind to the other important aspects of their life. And sometimes, it can make them physically blind, too.
The cause of this is something that is far too common among college students: sleep deprivation. While young adults should be getting about eight hours of sleep per night, 70% of college students report receiving less than the recommended amount. Many decide that they can survive on only five hours of sleep a night, and the average college student will pull three all-nighters in a month. In addition to the hope of having more time for social activities and involvements, students presume that all the hours of lost sleep will contribute to academic development [1].
However, sleep deprivation damages eyesight in the same way that it damages other aspects of human health: it detracts from the time the eyes need to rest and replenish themselves. Rather than turning off all the lights and bundling up in their beds, many college students will keep their lamp lights and computer screens on into the late hours of the night. The need for sleep pushed aside, many will find themselves shifting their eyes from the computer screen to the textbooks, trying to maximize information absorption and minimize the time needed to do it. In this silent frenzy, the most stressed-out player is not the student, but the ciliary muscle, which is in charge of refocusing the lens [5]. The lens is the part of the eye that focuses light to enter the retina, where images are converted into signals to be passed on to the brain by the optic nerve [3]. This chain of events is stifled if the ciliary muscle is weakened as a result of overuse.
While short-term eye strain can still be redeemed by developing better habits—whether it be something as small as blinking more often or something as notoriously difficult as getting more sleep—continually straining your eyes will lead to poorer vision. Our eyes simply were not meant to be exposed to light for extended long periods of time. A 1999 study reported a strong positive correlation between children who slept with a light on and children who experienced short-sightedness later in life [4]. More recently, doctors have noticed that the increased use of devices such as smartphones have led to greater exposure to blue light, which signals the body to stay up longer [2]. The longer people stay up, the more they force their ciliary muscle to refocus light, and the less likely they are to recover from the damage.
College is the time for young adults to not only gain knowledge and experience, but to learn how to survive on their own. However, if they cannot see what’s right in front of them—whether it is an object or the deteriorating state of their health—then they may never reach the light at the end of the tunnel.
References:
1. Hershner, Shelley D, and Ronald D Chervin. “Causes and Consequences of Sleepiness among College Students.” Nature and Science of Sleep 6 (2014): 73–84. PMC. Web. 25 February 2017.
2. Loria, Kevin. “Smartphones Ruin More Than Your Sleep – They May Also Be Destroying Your Vision.” Business Insider. 9 September 2014. Web. 25 February 2017.
3. Joyce, Robert, O.D. “Overworked Eyes: Will Your Computer Make You Go Blind?” The Huffington Post. 5 July 2012. Web. 25 February 2017.
4. Tonks, Alison. “Children Who Sleep with Light on May Damage Their Sight.” BMJ : British Medical Journal 318.7195 (1999): 1369. Print.
5. Verma, S. B. “Computers and Vision.” Journal of Postgraduate Medicine. 2001. Web. 25 February 2017.