Sleep disorders and a general lack of sleep are legitimate medical problems, experts on sleep told a crowd of about 100 at Lowell Lecture Hall last night.

Panelists urged the audience to develop regular sleep patterns and discussed ways that students could deal with sleep deficiencies.

"Sleep complaints have to be analyzed in the exact same way as other medical problems are analyzed," said Jean K. Matheseon, an assistant professor of clinical neurology at Harvard Medical School.

Joining Matheseon in the panel were Associate Professor of Psychiatry Quentin R. Regestein and psychotherapist Melissa Freizinger. The panel was sponsored by University Health Services and moderated by members of the Student Health Advisory Council.

Regestein said that each person's sleep needs are different and there is no universally sufficient amount of sleep.

He said people's optimal sleep times are determined by their body clocks, which dictate that a person should sleep at night, and a chemical which builds up in their nervous systems as they get more tired. He said that ignoring these two factors leads to abnormal sleep patterns and, as a result, not enough sleep.

Regestein said that psychological problems could result from lack of sleep. For example, his patients who did not get enough sleep often complained of depression and expressed feelings that their lives were a failure.

Matheseon said most sleep problems, ranging from delayed sleep-phase syndrome--the medical term for going to bed too late and, consequently, not getting enough sleep--to narcolepsy, were due to physiological problems.