Excerpt of a research paper: Sleep Deprivation: The Causes and Effects Sleep has an enormous effect on our daily life and health. Thousands of Americans are sleep deprived, even though the risks are high. A full nights sleep is needed to perform well at work or school and maintain a healthy body. If a person is deprived for sleep over a period of time, they can suffer from a range of health problems. Sleep deprivation is a serious problem, but is laughed off by many and seen as a serious issue. The purpose of the essay is to explore the amount of sleep that is recommend, and the cause and effects of sleep deprivation. The old clich of eight hours of sleep per night rings in everyone?s mind. Age is the determining factor for how much sleep a person needs per night ?Different people require different amount b minor scale s of rest? (2). A good guideline is children need between nine to thirteen hours of sleep, while adults need between six and nine hours of sleep per night. Some people can function properly with more or less sleep than listed; the guidelines are not accurate for everyone. As with any chart or guideline, it is only aimed at the majority not everyone. Most people stay very busy and have to find somewhere to cut a few hours, which usually results in a cut into their sleep time. ?Most adults average less than seven hours a night? (2). What these adults do not realize is that they are actually causing their performance and alertness to decrease by missing sleep. We have all experienced the day after a hard night and not getting enough rest. It is difficult to concentrate and certainly a tough task to learn something new.