Stressing about work, finances and the state of economy is the leading factor impacting sleep, and not technology (read: smartphones/tablets/laptops/TVs), a survey of 8,000 people spread across 10 countries (United States, Brazil, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Germany, China, Japan, South Korea, and Australia) has revealed. Released on World Sleep Day by Royal Philips, and titled Sleep: A Global Perspective, the survey has pointed to sleep disturbances affecting their life, health and happiness.
Among a list of 13 factors keeping people up at night, respondents selected financial and economic issues (28%) and work (25%) as their most common factors that kept them up at night. The survey also pointed to the role of technology in disrupting the quality and quantity of sleep. While 67% sleep with a mobile phone within reach, 21% said technology was a sleep disruptor. Also, 6% respondents reported having obstructive sleep apnea.
96% respondents said sleep was valuable to them as it influenced their overall health and well-being. Among a list of 12 different factors influencing overall health and well-being – family, work, school, social life and intimacy with a partner – sleep ranked the highest, at 87%.
57 % respondents said that while the quality of their sleep is important and should be better, they haven’t taken any steps to improve their sleep patterns. Only 17% consistently sleep through the night; while 22% note that they wake up before they would like.
Of the countries most worried about work, South Korea (43%), Brazil (33%) and China (32%) ranked the highest. Of those most worried about financial and economic issues, Brazil (39%), Germany (31%) and the US (31%) topped the list.
“Our report indicates how psychological factors can impact sleep, and how those factors can change depending on the times in which we live. Combating stress is critical to a good night’s sleep, but the toughest part for people is often just getting motivated to make changes,” Mark Aloia, senior director of global clinical research for Philips, said in a statement.
“There are a lot of things that feed into inaction in terms of healthy living. There’s the individual, psychological component – the feeling that my life isn’t bad enough to need dramatic change – and implementing and maintaining those changes is hard. And there’s the societal component – we wear lack of sleep like a badge, and as long as we do that as a society, we are going to make it very hard to take action at a societal level,” Aloia told The Huffington Post.
People want more sleep, but don’t know how to get it. Aloia has some advice: switch off TV, laptops, smatphones and try mindfulness, meditation or gentle exercise before going to bed. It is important to make one small lifestyle change each day for five days to improve sleep and well-being.
The research team gathered information regarding participants’ sleep times, wake times, daily routines, sleeping environments and perceptions of their work-life balance to determine the greatest obstacles to the development of healthier sleep habits.
Amen to that. Between being 5k behind on rent not to mention every other bill. Then my poor health with no health insurance, but im being fined by Obama for that one. I get 5 to 6 hours a night.