For quite a while now I thought perhaps it was just me. I’ve been having increasing trouble sleeping for the past year or so, with many nights when I only get about five hours of sleep before I’m wide awake again. But according to a new survey from Gallup that was released today, I’m part of a significant majority of Americans. Barely 40% of respondents felt that they are getting as much sleep as they require. So what’s causing this trend? (No… you can’t blame the eclipse.) Gallup’s research couldn’t pin down a specific cause or many specific details, but researchers believe that this sleep deficit is being driven by a combination of societal and environmental factors. (Associated Press)
If you’re feeling — YAWN — sleepy or tired while you read this and wish you could get some more shut-eye, you’re not alone. A majority of Americans say they would feel better if they could have more sleep, according to a new poll.
But in the U.S., the ethos of grinding and pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps is ubiquitous, both in the country’s beginnings and our current environment of always-on technology and work hours. And getting enough sleep can seem like a dream.
The Gallup poll, released Monday, found 57% of Americans say they would feel better if they could get more sleep, while only 42% say they are getting as much sleep as they need.
Looking at the demographics, sleep cycles are suffering across the board, but women under the age of 50 have it the worst. Analysts speculate that this could be because working-age women are more likely to have jobs requiring non-standard working hours and they also handle more childcare responsibilities than men. Among all Americans of both genders, barely a quarter of respondents (26%) said that they regularly get eight hours of sleep per night. I honestly can’t remember the last time I was able to sleep for eight hours except when I had COVID a couple of years ago. (Thanks, bloody useless mRNA shots!)
Six to seven hours of sleep per night seems to be more typical, with 53% falling into that category. Just 20% said that they average five hours of sleep or less. These are dramatic shifts from earlier eras. In 1942, 59% of Americans were sleeping at least eight hours per night.
Looking at the dates being cited, I find myself wondering if general changes in the world might have a lot to do with this. In the early 1940s, television still wasn’t prevalent around the country, and not all radio stations broadcast around the clock. Many rural areas weren’t even fully electrified by then. Once the sun went down, there wasn’t all that much else to do or to keep you preoccupied, so people were probably more likely to simply go to bed.
Compare that to the modern era, when cable television boasts hundreds of channels 24/7 and internet “entertainment” is always just a click away, not to mention the ubiquitous nature of cell phones. Far too many of us are guilty of looking at our screens late in the evening or even after we go to bed. (I will confess to being guilty of that fairly often.) However, staying up later does not assure you the opportunity to sleep later, depending on your work schedule. So the net result is likely fewer hours of sleep for many of us.
Then there is the general condition of the world around us. I’m not saying that people didn’t have problems back in the 1940s. There was that little matter of a world war going on, after all. But things are a lot more complicated and frequently worrisome today. We just came out of a pandemic and the entire world seems to be on fire a the moment. Americans have a lot more on their minds than wondering if there is enough feed in the hopper for the chickens tomorrow morning. That probably keeps some people tossing and turning.
But do we really need eight hours of sleep per night? You can read the CDC guidelines here. They actually suggest seven hours or more for adults. The amount of sleep required for teens, children, and infants are all higher than that. But at least for me, the reality is that I don’t average close to seven hours. Perhaps I need to take up meditation or something. In any event, I hope most of you are doing better than that. Apparently, we need it.
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