Is the Economy Keeping You Up at Night?

You are not alone if economic doom and gloom are keeping you up at night. One-third of Americans reported losing sleep over the state of the nation’s economy in a new poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). Job layoffs, forced furloughs, mortgage foreclosures, tight credit, and rising grocery prices have more Americans spending their pillow time worrying about personal finances instead of sleeping. As if economic stress weren’t enough, inadequate sleep adds to the strain placed on emotional and physical health.

Sleep allows the body to recharge and heal. Sleep experts say the average adult needs 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night. Not getting enough sleep increases your risk of heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, hypertension and depression. Sleep deprivation has been linked to highway accidents and increased injuries in construction, manufacturing and transportation occupations.   

“We don’t take sleep seriously enough,” Dr. Michael Sateia, director of Sleep Disorders Service at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, told R. Morgan Griffin in an article on WebMD. “It’s essential to life. If you disrupt the sleep cycle, you could face grave health repercussions throughout your body…. Getting enough sleep should be considered just as important as eating a healthy diet and exercising.”

According to the NSF’ Sleep in America poll, only 28% of Americans get 8 hours of sleep each night, 10% less than in 2001. Twenty percent of us– 2 in every 10 — get less than 6 hours sleep a night, up 7% since 2001. Not surprisingly, over the past eight years 13% more Americans report experiencing chronic sleep problems.  

“It’s easy to understand why so many people are concerned over the economy and jobs, but sacrificing sleep is the wrong solution,” said David Cloud, NSF CEO in a NSF press release. “Sleep is essential to productivity and alertness and is a vital sign for one’s overall health.”

People who regularly get 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night are twice as likely as those who get inadequate sleep to work efficiently, exercise and eat healthfully, according to the NSF poll. Unfortunately, while 40% of the people polled agreed that sleep is an important component of good health, only 32% said they discussed sleep problems with their doctor.