Just How Prevalent are Sleeping Disorders and What is the Impact on Society?


by J Wall - Date: 2007-01-17 - Word Count: 473 Share This!

Sleeping disorders are more prevalent than most of us realize. The toll physically, emotionally and economically on people and society is huge, yet it seems to be a quiet problem. Aside from an increase in TV ads promoting sleeping medications you would hardly think that it was all that common. However, there is reason to give this problem more attention.

Having trouble sleeping is not a minor issue. The rough estimates of people suffering from one form of sleep disorder or another that is diagnosed is 40 million. It is also estimated that another 40 million people go undiagnosed. That's 80 million people in America alone out of approximately 300 million. Almost one third of the population of the US have a sleeping disorder of varying severity.

Unfortunately, sleeping disorders are hard for the sufferer to recognize. Many times we rationalize away our lack of sleep to one thing or another and fail to notice how often we go without the rest we need. Too many people fail to see that the quality of their sleep is lacking. Too often we just attempt to push on and adjust.

However, adjusting is neither the answer nor is it safe in the long term. People having trouble sleeping are more likely to suffer depression, anxiety, cognitive impairment, heart problems, reduced immune response and a host of other issues. The estimated cost to the US economy for sleeping disorders is in the tens of billions...roughly as much as depression or stroke according to one article I read recently. The costs come from reduced productivity in the workplace, health care costs due to increased illness and accident costs due to impaired driving while sleepy. It is a wonder that we don't hear more about this problem.

Trouble sleeping is not a new problem, but it is a growing problem. As the average lifestyle in the US and abroad increasingly involves longer work hours, less vacation, more hectic pace the rate of sleeplessness goes up. Depression and stress are on the rise and a lack of rest is on the rise with them. In fact sleeplessness is often a sign of other issues like depression, stress or even dietary problems. These are not simple issues that respond well to quick fixes like sleeping pills or attempts to go to bed earlier. They require us to evaluate our lives and make more drastic changes.

Sleeping disorders will not go away overnight, but we can begin to reduce the number of sufferers by getting this problem into the spotlight. Education is necessary to help people see that it is a serious issue...half of the people suffering aren't diagnosed by a doctor. We need to get people to take their sleep seriously and talk with their doctors. There are ways to treat sleeplessness, but we first have to admit that we have a need for treatment.


Related Tags: sleeping disorders, trouble sleeping

J. Wall has an avid interest in natural remedies for the treatment of memory loss. He is a regular contributor to the Alternative Mental Health section of http://www.memory-enhancement-guide.com, a site dedicated to improving mental ability and cognitive function. Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles

© The article above is copyrighted by it's author. You're allowed to distribute this work according to the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs license.
 

Recent articles in this category:



Most viewed articles in this category: