When did unhealthy sleep habits become the new ‘it’ thing?

It’s a phenomenon that one would be remiss not to notice, particularly here on campus: students readily bragging about their long study hours and short sleep schedules. Dark circles are the new marker of academic success, and extra large cups of coffee are more of an aesthetic statement for undergraduate students than just a morning beverage.

But perhaps this one-upmanship is indicative of a bigger problem — a problem more troublesome, and more pervasive, than just overworked American college students.

Has not only campus culture, but broader American society itself, become too obsessed with working?

Domestic policy would certainly suggest it. The United States remains one of the only highly-developed nations in the world to reject paid maternity leave for working mothers — offering even less in the way of working fathers. Working culture further supports the idea -— salaried positions push laborers past the boundaries of acceptable time spent behind a desk, and interns are left unpaid and exhausted for the sake of supposed networking and experience.

Vacation time is accrued and left unused, and those who work the longest are idealized by media and fiction, despite the fact that their long hours often have devastating effects on both their families and their health. Eighty-hour workweeks are nearly required to get ahead, and industry leaders milk their interns for every ounce of manpower they’re capable of offering.

Conversely, those who work short hours, focusing primarily on family, personal health and happiness, are painted as lazy, unmotivated ‘hippies.’ They are rarely offered the opportunity to advance, even if they are fully competent in their positions, because they do not desire to make their job the primary focus of their lives. They refuse to work weekends or holidays, refuse to work overtime and refuse to submit to the idea that the be all end all to life is to devote oneself to the financial gain of another’s dream.

Working to the point of exhaustion, ignoring familial obligations and friendships, remains equally as selfish as refusing to work at all. This ‘do or die’ culture that has been cultivated since the early twentieth century is creating huge problems with mental health, family unity and individual well-being that can be seen in the record high usage of antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs in American workers, and it needs to stop.

Perhaps it is time to end the blind idolization of those among us who refuse to stop. Are they admirable in their passion and endurance? Yes. Their self-discipline is astonishing, and their ability to persevere is impressive.

But are they the pinnacle of the American dream, offering a model after which all others should mold themselves? Perhaps not. Not everyone is meant to exist in this vacuum of work, class and limited sleep. Sometimes it’s okay to take a break.

It’s time to stop demonizing those who make the choice to focus on things other than work. Family, health, friendships and creative projects are just as important as monetarily measurable output. A person’s value does not derive from how long they work, but how happy they are, and how much happiness they bring the world and those in it.

And, yes, sleep is wonderful. Try it sometime.