The Impact of Sleep Deprivation: Understanding American Sleep Habits

Most Americans claim that if they could just get more sleep, they would feel better.

TFD – Explore the impact of sleep deprivation on American sleep habits, shedding light on factors contributing to insomnia and revenge bedtime procrastination. Learn about the importance of improving sleep quality for overall well-being.

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.

However, the American culture of working hard and rising to one’s own feet is deeply ingrained, having been present since the founding of the nation and continuing to this day in our constantly connected and demanding work environment. Furthermore, getting adequate sleep sometimes feels unreal.

According to a Gallup study issued on Monday, only 42% of Americans believe they are receiving the recommended amount of sleep, with 57% saying they would feel better if they could get more. This is a first for Gallup polling since 2001; the previous time Americans were surveyed, in 2013, the results were almost exactly the opposite, with 56% reporting they received the recommended amount of sleep and 43% not.

Women who were younger—those under 50—were more likely than older women to report not getting enough sleep.

Additionally, participants in the survey were asked to report the average number of hours they slept each night: Just 26% of respondents claimed to have gotten eight hours or more, which is roughly what sleep experts suggest for mental and physical wellness. 53 percent of respondents said they slept for six to seven hours. And 20% reported obtaining five hours or less of sleep, which is an increase from the 14% who claimed they slept the least in 2013.

(And to add to your exhaustion, the majority of Americans were sleeping more in 1942. 33% reported sleeping six to seven hours, while 59% reported sleeping eight hours or more. How on earth is that?

The causes are not entirely evident.

The survey does not address WHY Americans are not getting enough sleep, and since Gallup last conducted this survey in 2013, there is no data available that specifically breaks down the effects of the past four years and the epidemic era.

However, what’s noteworthy, according to Sarah Fioroni, senior researcher at Gallup, is the change over the past ten years in the proportion of Americans who believe they would benefit from getting more sleep, especially the rise in those who report getting five hours or less.

According to Fioroni, “that five hours or less category…was almost not really heard of in 1942.” “Very few people reported getting five hours or less of sleep.”

According to Joseph Dzierzewski, vice president for research and scientific affairs at the National Sleep Foundation, “there has also been this pervasive belief about how sleep was unnecessary—that it was this period of inactivity where little to nothing was actually happening and that took up time that could have been better used” in modern American life.

According to him, awareness of the significance of sleep for mental, emotional, and physical well-being has only lately begun to spread throughout society.

Furthermore, much work remains to be done. There just aren’t enough hours in the day for some Americans, including 31-year-old Justine Broughal, a self-employed event coordinator with two young children. Therefore, even though she understands the value of sleep, she frequently places it behind other obligations, such as her 3-year-old daughter or her 4-month-old baby, who still gets up during the night.

Broughal remarks, “I truly value being able to spend time with (my children).” “Having a more flexible schedule is one advantage of working for myself, but it frequently comes at the expense of my personal well-being.”

A cultural context also exists for all of this.

Why then do we wake up every single day? The cultural emphasis on hard work and productivity that Americans have traditionally valued is perhaps one factor contributing to their insomnia.

A portion of the background predates the poll-documented shift by a significant amount. According to Claude Fischer, a sociology professor at the University of California Berkeley’s graduate school, it encompasses the Protestant colonists from Europe. Among their beliefs was the notion that success attained through hard labor was a sign of divine favor.

He claimed that “it has been a core part of American culture for centuries.” “One could argue that it has become a general principle that the morally upright person is one who doesn’t waste time in its secularized form over the centuries.”

Jennifer Sherman has personally witnessed that. A recurring issue among the people the Washington State University sociology professor interviewed over her years of research in rural American communities was the value of having a strong work ethic. This held true for both paid and unpaid labor, such as maintaining a tidy home.

The notion that each of us is “individually responsible for creating our own destinies” is a recurring theme in American popular mythology, according to her. And that does imply that you are accountable for your own failure if you are squandering too much time.

“There is also a great deal of contempt for those who are viewed as lazy,” she continued.

According to Broughal, her generation is able to let go of some of those expectations because they are now parents. She declared, “My top priority is spending time with my kids, not maintaining a spotless home.”

Still, she claimed that adjusting to a dirtier house doesn’t translate into more time for relaxation because she had two young children to tend to. “We’re spending family time until, you know, (my 3-year-old) goes to bed at eight and then we’re resetting the house, right?” she said.

The costs of getting more sleep

The Covid-19 pandemic may have had an impact on people’s sleep patterns, even though the poll simply reveals a general change over the previous ten years. Another topic covered in post-Covid living is “revenge bedtime procrastination,” which is the practice of delaying going to bed in an effort to reduce stress by scrolling through social media or binge-watching a show.

Liz Meshel knows about that. In order to make ends meet, the 30-year-old American is working a part-time job during U.S. hours while residing temporarily in Bulgaria thanks to a research grant.

When Meshel’s work schedule extends until 10 p.m., she gets into a vicious cycle of “revenge procrastination.” She ends up sacrificing sleeping hours in order to have the time she needs to herself to unwind before bed.

That also holds true at night, when I’m like, I’ll feel perfectly okay and justified watching X amount of TV episodes and spending this much time on Instagram as my method to unwind because I didn’t have any alone time during the day, she said. It’s now 10 p.m. “which, needless to say, will only exacerbate the issue.”