If you take a look around Ohio University or any college campus, you will find college students disguised as walking zombies motioning through the day, fighting the urge to fall asleep standing up. The majority of college students do not get enough rest, and lethargy has become the new normal.
“How are you?” is the default greeting for both those we know and those we don’t know well. “I’m good,” used to be the standard response, even if that wasn’t necessarily the truth. Recently, though, there has been a shift in our society’s accepted answers to that question; “I’m tired” has entered the equation.
The statement is now a regular comment, and similar to “I’m good,” no follow-up inquiries are asked. It has become normalized to present tiredness as your overall mood.
Keith Markman, an associate professor of social psychology at OU, explained why college students are normalizing having less of it.
“I think it’s become normalized … because so many people talk about it and actually romanticize it in a way,” Markman said. “People become entrenched in maladaptive behaviors, and then those behaviors are validated by learning that so many people around them are doing the same thing.”
Many students blame unwanted exam scores, irritable moods and attitudes on their lack of energy, not just using exhaustion as an excuse but turning it into a defining personality. It has become normalized for everyone around you to be running on little to no sleep; with the frequency and amount of college kids discussing it, the mob mentality accepts no sleep as inherently OK.
“(Lack of sleep) impairs your attention and your concentration,” Markman said. “There’s studies that show there’s certainly a correlation between lack of sleep and lower test scores and GPA, because these cognitive functions have been undermined.”
For students wondering why their grades aren’t exactly matching their hours of studying, pulling all-nighters doesn’t necessarily help us in any beneficial way.
“Your mind is very active, and one of the purposes of (REM) sleep is to consolidate memories from that day,” Markman said. “If people don’t get that kind of sleep, then their memory for information that they’ve learned within the past day or two is not as good as it could be. With regard to studying, the REM stage is important.”
Without proper sleep, we become easily irritable. While unideal events are part of our everyday life and can cause mood disruptors to a certain degree, they shouldn’t be all-consuming of our energy and ruin our days. That being said, some factors can contribute to this, especially with mental health conditions on the rise.
“There’s emotional lack of sleep (which) affects what we call emotional regulation,” Markman said. “A lack of sleep actually leads you to have a higher risk for depression and a reduced ability to cope with the inevitable setbacks that occur along the way.”
Over 60% of college students meet the criteria for at least one mental health condition. Additionally, poor nutrition can contribute to the problem, and 71% of university students acknowledge their substandard diets. Though this statistic seems high, the majority wish to consume healthier options, but express campus dining options don’t meet nutritional standards.
The expectations put on us only contribute to poor mental health. It’s considered routine to attend classes, schedule time for friends and family, get exercise, participate in organization meetings, apply for jobs or internships, and still have time to be heavily involved on campus. The list goes on and on. A college student’s packed itinerary makes resting nearly impossible.
The window for downtime is insufficient, and the opportunity to prioritize resetting is even more sparse, enhancing the possibility for our batteries to hit empty fast.
According to a recent survey conducted by Statista on college students in 2025, results show 27.8% of the represented students felt tired for seven days of the week. When rest gets put on the back burner, we turn to temporary solutions to help us power through the day.
Starbucks is the most prominent coffee shop globally, leading in store locations and sales. 95% of college students consume caffeine, with 66% consuming 1-2 caffeinated beverages a day. Additionally, the average college student spends anywhere from $15 to $20 a week on coffee, which equates to $1,000 annually.
“All of those things (caffeinated drinks) rely on releasing a neurotransmitter, norepinephrine … that increases alertness,” Markman said. “The problem is the use of those drinks, that’s what’s going to cause the staggered sleep schedule in the first place.”
We are stuck in a never-ending cycle that contradicts itself; no sleep, caffeine, repeat.
Where we choose to focus our attention during any time of inactivity only contributes to this widespread matter. Instead of taking a nap, many students spend their time doomscrolling TikTok or watching drama-filled TV. This only worsens our condition, as it hinders our brains from resetting, even though we are being “mindless.”
Instead of replicating each day with the same mistakes, we should look for ways to recharge beyond sleep so we can terminate the exhaustion that has become part of us.
Aleni Bender is a sophomore studying organizational communication at Ohio University. Please note the opinions expressed in this column do not represent those of The Post. Want to talk to Aleni about her column? Email/tweet her at ab285023@ohio.edu/@aleni_bender
