Staying Asleep: Insomnia a problem for some students
Imagine a world where falling and staying asleep is next to impossible.
For Roseville junior Paul Paonessa, that imagination is a harsh reality.
Paonessa functions well in all of his classes and is hardly drowsy during the day. From appearance, most people wouldn’t think that he suffers from insomnia.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, insomnia is the prolonged and usually abnormal inability to get enough sleep.
“On a good night I might get four hours of sleep,” Paonessa said. “The weird thing about it is that I’m not tired when I wake up. I’m not sure why.”
Paonessa doesn’t let this roadblock get in the way of performance in his classes.
“I do well on test-taking and paying attention in class,” he said.
Paonessa’s insomnia started for him when he came to college and had the influence of his roommates to stay up late. He was diagnosed last year.
“You don’t know if you have (insomnia) until someone asks how you function,” he said.
Farmington Hills sophomore Jared Gussin also suffers from insomnia and has had it since he was a senior in high school.
Gussin said he occasionally takes melatonin, an over-the-counter sleep aids, and it usually helps him to sleep for four or five hours.
Unlike Paonessa, Gussin’s in-class performance is affected by his inability to get a full night of sleep.
“I can’t function as well and it’s more difficult when I’m taking tests and doing work,” he said.
Gussin tries to live a more active lifestyle during the day so he can get a more restful sleep at night.
“This way my mind and body are tired and I can fall asleep easier.”
Escanaba junior Chantell LaForest takes a different approach to solving her insomnia problem.
“I take sleeping medicine because if I don’t take it, I’m lucky if I get two hours of sleep,” LaForest said.
LaForest also said she enforces a bedtime for herself. She said self-discipline combined with sleeping medicine helps her stay asleep for six hours.
LaForest said if she doesn’t take her medicine, she becomes extremely agitated and does not want to be in class.
“When I get irritable, I tend to draw back from people … I don’t want to lash out at somebody,” she said.
