Seems like sleep (or lack thereof) has caught national attention…
Insufficient sleep and under-treatment of sleep disorders is a national health concern that causes a substantial economic burden to the U.S. economy each year due to accidents and lost productivity.
This is the declaration by the National Institute of Health (NIH). Just in case you didn’t know, the NIH is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and is the largest biomedical research agency in the world. So if they declare there is a problem, best believe it’s real. And they have a whole lot of research over the past three decades to prove it.
But I don’t get a real lovey-dovey feeling from that statement, do you? Sounds like it’s all about money, not about me. In all fairness, I can’t blame the NIH because it’s a whole lot easier to measure outcome in dollars and cents than it is to ask millions of people if they are sleeping well.
Now, why is sleep deprivation such a public health concern? After all, what happens behind closed doors is your own business, isn’t it?
It helps to look at some facts and figures, the infographic below reveals there are far-reaching consequences including car accidents, risk of chronic diseases, mental health issues and more.
So, where do you fit within these stats?
Have you found yourself falling asleep behind the wheel a few times too many?
Have you been feeling kind of moody and irritable lately?
Have your car keys taken a walk from where you remember leaving them?
Too often we normalize certain behaviors because they haven’t slowed us down or caused major damage, yet. I’m guilty of doing that, so I’m not judging. I’m from the old school where you don’t stop until you drop. That mentality, however, is what got me here.
I got tired of being tired, are you there yet?