Economy, stress causing more sleepless nights, poll says

Americans are finding it hard to sleep tight when their money’s not right, a new survey shows.

A third of us are tossing and turning along with the markets and the economy, according to a poll by the National Sleep Foundation, sponsor of the annual National Sleep Awareness Week. (It’s this week, in case you were sleeping.)

Jon Rou/Emory University

More Americans are not getting the recommended eight or more hours of sleep.

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About 70 million Americans now report sleep problems, an increase of 13 percent since 2001, and 20 percent of us now sleep fewer than six hours a night, the poll shows. Those sleeping the recommended eight or more hours each night have dropped from 38 percent to 28 percent since 2001.

America is stressed, and insomnia is one of the repercussions, says David Schulman, medical director of the Emory Clinic Sleep Disorders Lab. The lab has experienced an estimated 20 percent increase in clients over the past five months, while the Atlanta Sleep Medicine Clinic, a private facility in Sandy Springs, reports about a 15 percent increase in calls over the past year.

While more people are complaining they can’t get to sleep, few he’s seen connect it with their financial concerns, Schulman says. But whatever the problem’s root cause, once people become anxious about their insomnia, getting to sleep can get even more difficult, he says. So even if the stock market goes up, it seems, laying your head down can remain a struggle.

For a good night’s sleep, just relax and try to stop thinking about stressful things, Schulman says. Control the things you can, such as darkening the room, removing the TV and avoiding caffeine. Exercise and a good diet also help.

“Sleep quality is just as important as sleep quantity,” said Ketema Paul, a professor at the Morehouse School of Medicine who studies sleep. He notes links between poor sleep and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, a weakened immune system, high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes.

Everyone has a sense of how much sleep they need, he says, but studies have shown that those who live longest and tend to be healthiest sleep seven to 10 hours a night.