Psychology Essay Example: Sleep Journal and Reflection

The analysis of dreams has been a captivating topic among the psychologists. Sigmund Freud has in his research focused on trying to understand dreams as well as interpret them. Modern psychologists are also starting to recognize the relationship between psychology and human psychology that was never explored before. There are activities done during the day like healthy eating, holistic health, mindfulness and yoga that affect the way the mind and body functions (Freud, 2013). In line with this growing area of psychology, I maintained a sleep and dream journal. This essay will, therefore, complete a reflection and analysis of my experience.

Students in high school, college and universities among other learning institutions like myself sometimes put off sleep for other activities like doing homework, staying up with family and friends, or even studying. The normal human body functions by following a 24hr cycle throughout the day called the circadian rhythm. On weekdays skipping meals and skipping sleep during the night makes it difficult for people to focus on their day to day activities. After lunch, I find myself sleepy and with difficulties in focusing in class. In the afternoons, this, in turn, affects my body in such a way that I find myself crashing earlier due to lack of energy.

In my sleep diary, I recorded the time I went to sleep, as well as the number of times I woke up during my sleep. Reflecting on this, I realized that I went to sleep late when I had homework to do or when studying for tests. My sleeping patterns were inconsistent because I generally did not sleep well throughout the night. However, there are those nights that I would sleep soundly after having performed some exercises. The roughest nights were when I decided to stay up late doing homework or studying for tests. The first three nights of sleeping were fairly good. The dreams I had during the three nights were mostly about fairy tales. In one of the dreams, I dreamt about going back to school, but this triggered by the fact that it was a must I go back to school. In the last eight nights of my sleep journal, I experienced only one nightmare. This is because I went camping with my peer group, and was told scary stories while in the woods. On the weekends, my sleep patterns are different to those on the weekdays because I go to sleep late and wake up way late into the afternoon. During this sleep journal, I found it difficult to sleep and wake at specific times, since my sleeping patterns were affected in that I could stay up late for longer hours studying for tests and doing homework. This explains why my sleeping habits are not normal because I am not used to a specific sleeping pattern and schedule.

Over the weeks, I have learned that my sleeping habits affect my day to day life. I now believe that I should make an effort to get enough sleep, and this way, my body can rest enough and not be stressed out. I intend to stop skipping dinner for other activities like homework or reading for tests because this affects my sleeping patterns, and also because my stomach aches a lot when I go to sleep without taking dinner. This habit also makes my body crash during the day because I not set aside enough time to eat and this, in turn, decreases my production levels. Sleep according to Warner, Murray & Meyer (2008) is important for the growth of the human body because it helps in rebuilding memories, creative thinking, and memory restoration as well as in protection and recuperation of humans.

References

Freud, S. (2013). The interpretation of dreams. Read Books Ltd.

Warner, S., Murray, G., & Meyer, D. (2008). Holiday and school-term sleep patterns of Australian adolescents. Journal of adolescence, 31(5), 595-608.