Wake up to the truths about sleeping
World Sleep Day is celebrated on the Friday before the March equinox, which this year was March 14, with the theme “Make Sleep A Priority.” Many people, especially the young ones, believe they can get by with as little sleep as possible. They are unaware that poor and insufficient sleep negatively impacts almost all aspects of our mental and physical health. Experts say that sleep is as important as nutrition and exercise!
Established in 2008 by the World Sleep Society (formerly known as the World Association of Sleep Medicine), World Sleep Day aims to promote the importance of sufficient and good-quality sleep. “Decades of research show that healthy sleep is directly related to your overall mental, physical, and emotional health,” they explained on their website www.worldsleepday.org.
“The goal is to celebrate the benefits of good and healthy sleep and to draw society’s attention to the burden of sleep problems and their medical, educational, and social aspects, and to promote the prevention and management of sleep disorders,” they expounded.
Dr. Lourdes DelRosso, co-chair of World Sleep Day, said, “Waking up feeling fully rested is one of the greatest sensations in the world. Imagine how energizing that feels—your mind refreshed, your body recharged, and your resilience stronger than ever. Prioritizing your sleep health is the key to maintaining that energy and thriving every day!”
Co-chair Dr. Fang Han added, “The scientific evidence is clear that sleep is essential to your health, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to make sleep health a priority. Start to think about sleep as an everyday habit—just like your physical activity and diet. How will you prepare for sleep tonight? How do you feel during the day? Simple everyday reflections like this are the first step to prioritizing your sleep health. Start today!”
There were three key messages this year to the general public. First, “Sleep is essential to health.” It is a critical pillar just like nutrition and exercise. Sleep helps support memory and learning, clears waste from the brain, and promotes brain health. Sleep boosts immune health, and helps the immune system to clear bacteria and viruses. It also helps recycle old cells and maintain our body and energy level.
Poor sleep, on the other hand, is linked to obesity, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and cardiovascular mortality. It can lower immune response which increases susceptibility to infection. Poor sleep can reduce your reaction time as well as impair your judgment and cognitive abilities, much like being alcohol intoxicated.
The second key message is that “Sleep health is multidimensional.” There are six dimensions of sleep health. First is the duration or how many hours you slept. Second is efficiency or how well you fall and remain asleep. Third is the timing or what hours you sleep. The fourth dimension is the regularity of sleep or maintaining consistent sleep and wake times. The fifth is alertness during waking hours described as maintaining good focus and attention. Last is the quality of sleep or one’s level of sleep satisfaction.
The third key message is “Make a plan to prioritize your sleep health.” Since we all live unique lives, we might have different methods of improving our sleep health. There is some common ground, though. First, aim for at least seven hours of sleep. Create a sleep schedule. Your bedtime should be the same every day. Your sleep environment will also vastly impact your sleep. Minimize light (including gadget screens), make the room temperature comfortable (will not be the same for everybody), and have some white noise or ambient music if that helps you relax and sleep. Lastly, keep a sleep journal. Indicate the days when you feel very energized upon waking up because you had a great sleep, Note what contributed to it.
Sleep health is not just a personal issue but a public concern as well. The Lancet reported in June 2024 that the RAND (Research and Development Organization) study forecast that in 2025, a whopping US$718 billion will be the cost of absenteeism and lost productivity from insufficient sleep in five countries (USA, UK, Japan, Germany, and Canada). Instilling good sleep hygiene should start early and those with sleep problems should be supported with treatment options. In a 2024 published study by Resmed, Japan is the most sleep-deprived nation with more than 20 percent reporting only one or two good sleep nights per week. In 2023, a study by Milieu Insight found that Filipinos are the most sleep-deprived in Southeast Asia since a high of 56 percent of the population gets less than seven hours of sleep per night.
The Journal of Occupational Health Psychology recently published a new study led by the University of South Florida. The lead, psychologist Claire Smith, cautioned: “The way we are designing work poses serious, long-term threats to healthy sleep. Healthy sleep involves more than just getting your eight hours. It’s also falling asleep easily, sleeping through the night and having a consistent sleep schedule. Companies should be aware of the specific sleep risks of their workforce to improve detection and intervention.”
After studying more than 1,000 workers over 10 years, they found that sedentary workers (roughly 40 percent in the Philippines) experience a 37 percent increase in insomnia-like symptoms. Incidentally, Filipinos are the most sedentary people in Asia. They also found that those working nontraditional schedules (working night shifts) experience a 66 percent greater risk of needing to catch up on sleep.
Smith added that workers who fall into a pattern of poor sleep due to their long hours of sedentary work or nighttime schedule may end up stuck in that unhealthy pattern for years, even long after they give up their work.
Inadequate sleep does not only make us tired. According to the American Psychological Association, 50 years of research on sleep deprivation and mood indicate that poor sleep health can decrease positive emotions such as joy, happiness, and contentment. More, it can contribute to an increase in anxiety symptoms such as rapid heart rate and increased worrying.
