Beyond Sleep: Why Teens Need More Rest Than You Think
When a teenager is moody, distracted, or shuts down completely, it’s easy to assume they’re being lazy, dramatic, or defiant.
But before we go down the rabbit hole of behaviour charts, discipline strategies, or diagnoses, it’s worth asking: Are they getting enough rest? And the right kind of rest?
Teens Need Sleep, But They Also Need More Than Sleep
Health Canada and the Canadian Paediatric Society recommend 8–10 hours of sleep per night for adolescents aged 13–18. Yet data shows that nearly one-third of Canadian teens don’t meet this minimum.
Lack of sleep alone puts teens at higher risk for:
· Mood swings, irritability, and depression
· Trouble concentrating and lower academic performance
· Weakened immune systems and physical health issues
· Risky behaviours and emotional dysregulation
The 7 Types of Rest Teens Need (Backed by Neuroscience & Psychology)
Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith’s "7 Types of Rest" framework, combined with developmental neuroscience, offers a fuller picture. During adolescence, the brain undergoes profound changes in the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and dopaminergic reward systems, making rest, not just sleep, essential for growth, regulation, and resilience. Today’s teens are navigating a world of overstimulation, performance pressure, social comparison, identity development, and emotional overload. They don’t just need more sleep they need rest that reaches all of them, not just the pillow.
Let’s break it down:
1. Physical Rest
This includes passive rest (sleep, lying down) and active rest (stretching, movement, hydration).
✅ Encourage:
8–10 hours of sleep
A no-phones-in-bed rule
Body movement throughout the day
Why it matters: Poor sleep hygiene increases risks for depression, anxiety, and injury in teens.
2. Mental Rest
Teens are expected to make adult-level decisions with under-construction executive function.
✅ Encourage:
Screen-free pauses
“Mind dump” journaling
Short mindfulness or breathing
Why it matters: According to the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), overstimulation and cognitive fatigue are key contributors to adolescent burnout
3. Emotional Rest
A break from masking, suppressing, or performing emotional stability.
✅ Encourage:
Low-pressure conversations
Validation without needing a fix
Presence over perfection
Mentoring offers this through safe, judgment-free connection.
Why it matters: Emotional coregulation, where an adult helps a teen calm down, is key for developing emotional intelligence and resilience.
4. Social Rest
Relief from high-demand relationships and social performance.
✅ Encourage:
Time to be alone
No-pressure social opportunities
Honest conversations
Mentoring offers this as a low-stakes, emotionally safe relationship.
Why it matters: Teens feel social fatigue more intensely in the digital age. One quality connection can buffer against loneliness and peer stress.
5. Spiritual Rest
Feeling connected to meaning, values, or a sense of purpose.
✅ Encourage:
Reflection and conversations on what matters
Opportunities to help others
Time in nature or stillness
Mentors can support this through thoughtful questions and modelling integrity.
Why it matters: Research shows Canadian teens who feel purposeful are more likely to report positive mental health and lower anxiety .
6. Creative Rest
Time away from output and toward playful, joy-based exploration.
✅ Encourage:
Art, music, or nature
Exposure to wonder, beauty, or new experiences
Zero-pressure play
Mentors often encourage this by nurturing curiosity and self-expression.
Why it matters: Creative rest activates the brain’s “default mode network,” supporting identity development and emotional regulation.
7. Sensory Rest
A break from constant input: screens, lights, noise, notifications.
✅ Encourage:
Calm, quiet environments
Intentional silence
Reducing multitasking (e.g., scrolling while watching TV)
Why it matters: The average Canadian teen spends 8+ hours a day on screens, amplifying sensory fatigue and sleep disturbance.
Rest Isn’t a Reward, It’s the Foundation
We often treat rest as something to be earned, a break teens get after they’ve been productive, respectful, or high-performing.
But this framing is backwards.
Rest isn’t the result of doing well. It’s the prerequisite for thriving. It is a biological necessity.
Sleep and other forms of rest directly impact:
· Executive functioning (decision-making, planning, impulse control)
· Emotion regulation (especially in high-stress moments)
· Learning and memory consolidation
· Social judgment and peer relationships
· Physical recovery and hormonal balance
Teens are building identity, integrity, and resilience. And they can’t do that from a depleted place.
So when we talk about rest for teens, we’re not just talking about personal habits. We’re talking about:
· Systemic structures (early school start times, screen culture, academic overload)
· Cultural norms (productivity equals worth)
· Relational signals (what we praise, what we prioritize, how we respond to tiredness)
Teens don’t just need permission to rest. They need adults who model it, protect it, and build environments that support it.
That’s why mentoring matters so much.
Because rest is easier to access in the presence of someone who says: “You don’t have to prove yourself to belong here.”
And that might be the most restorative message of all.
What You Can Do Today
If you’re supporting a teen, as a parent, educator, coach, or mentor, start here:
✔️ Check in on their sleep.
✔️ Learn to recognize rest deficits before they spiral.
✔️ Introduce the 7 types of rest with supports they need.
✔️ And ask yourself: Are you rested enough to support them well?
Sources:
Dalton-Smith, S. (2017). Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity. FaithWords.
Immordino-Yang, M.H. et al. (2012). Rest Is Not Idleness: Brain Default Mode and Adolescent Development. Perspectives on Psychological Science.
MediaSmarts. (2019). Young Canadians in a Wireless World: Trends Report. https://mediasmarts.ca
Canadian Paediatric Society. (2022). Sleep and your teenager. https://cps.ca
Public Health Agency of Canada. (2019). Sleep and Mental Health. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/sleep-disorders.html
Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA). (2023). Stress, Anxiety and Mental Health in Youth. https://cmha.ca
Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW). (2016). Youth Voice and Wellbeing: A CIW Report on Purpose and Belonging in Canadian Youth.
