Researchers have been meaning to explore the correlation between health-related beliefs and their effect on the person's health behaviour by designing key models to give them a more vivid perception of the human behaviour. Factors like smoking, unhealthy eating, drinking frivolously, not getting enough sleep, not getting enough exercise, avoiding health screenings and checkups all seem to take a toll on one's lifestyle and behavioural choices, we will focus particularly today on not fulfilling the daily quota of rest for functioning properly (Ogden, 2017). Getting inadequate amount of sleep seems to be a very prevalent problem in today's world, especially with the high level advancement of technology and work load, everyone seems to be chasing the last bits of their sleep and procuring in one last wink before eluding to their daily hectic lives of injunctive productivity. Most people do realize that in order to carry on with their days, it's crucial to get their designated sleep but due to their attitudes and virulent widespread slogans "Sleep is for the weak'' and "The night is young" inducing subjective norms and peer pressure (Agzen and Madden, 1986) amongst the young, to influentially make the most out of their nights and avoid sleeping. They of course do have the full self-efficacy (Ogden, 2017) to control their sleep schedules except for the insomniac ofcourse. Others might think that they're just too good to get full hours of sleep and think that they can carry on with their chores without needing much rest, which is quite obviously a discouraged mindset.
Getting meager levels of sleep observed from a certain scientific model of The Change Model (Prochaska and Diclemente, 1982) ensues the following revelations; the precontemplation stage which involves an individual not making any sort of sleep cycle changes due to numerous factors like peer pressure and overconfidence in oneself by staying up late to talk to friends of significant other, or simply ignoring all the calls for health awareness and just doing what they feel like doing. Then comes the contemplation stage where the individual could for example notice a sudden demotion from his boss due to sloppy work performance or the failure of a driving test due to lack of awareness, which could give him the wake up call needed and he'd start to consider making a change in his sleep routine. After that comes the preparation step where he'd start making small changes like turning on the night light on devices to help him wind down earlier, meditating, finishing all his activities before bedtime approaches and settle on some light activity like watching a show or reading, taking naps to replenish the sleep deficit, and ofcourse marking an earlier bedtime and trying to adhere to it occasionally. Consequentially would come the action phase, in which the individual fully commits himself to ingraining a new healthy bedtime into his routine in which he receives a solid 8 to 9 hours of sleep required to be able to perform to his best capability, he'd start with having that schedule on only weekdays, and dismantling all the distractions that could possibly hinder him from going to bed earlier. Last but not least comes the maintenance phase in which the individual tries to sustain and maintain this healthy change and thus apply it to every single day of his regardless of it being a weekday or a weekend, and making it completely habitual such that his circadian cycle goes on autopilot to make him sleep on the designated time instead of him having to consciously make an effort.
From a psychosocial standpoint, there are a few points that
can be highlighted in making a change for the better with a healthier sleep
schedule, such as emotionally and socially, the individual could perhaps
recieve backlash from his group of friends for suddenly deciding to go to bed
early which could make him feel hoarded or inferior, along with that he would
also have to cut down on the quota of entertainment that he derives from the
activities he indulges in past bedtime, or perhaps the neglection of his
partner that would want to stay up on nights to talk to him, however he'd feel
inner contentment at being able to be more productive and less drowsy while
going about with his day. Financially, since he'd be more capable of yielding
fruitful results due to work performance, he'd receive an upliftment and
perhaps receive more bonuses, paychecks, as well as possibly a promotion. As
for pupils, they'd yield better grades and receive higher praise from their
parents. All in all though, it'd have a positive impact on the individual
except if they happen to be nocturnal or insomniacs, in which case either
therapy or differently geared schedules would have to be allotted to the individual
to perform their utmost best.
References
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Ogden, J. (2017). The psychology of health and illness: An
open access course. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318642251_The_psychology_of_health_and_illness_an_open_access_course
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Steven, D. (2015), What should I do if I can’t sleep: Teens
Health Nemours. Retrieved from: https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/sleepless.html
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Kirsten, N. (2019), 12 Ways To Fix Your Sleep Schedule, Retrieved
from: https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sleep/how-to-fix-sleep-schedule
