Insomnia: Facts, Statistics, and You

Insomnia can involve:

• trouble getting to sleep
• staying asleep
• waking up too early

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises that most adults need at least 7 hours of sleep each night. But 1 in 3 American adults are not getting the recommended amount of sleep.


It leaves you tired and makes it difficult to function well during the day. Insomnia can be the cause or the result of other health problems, and it can affect anyone.

Prevalence

Insomnia is a common problem. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) reports that when it comes to insomnia among adults:

• 30 to 35 percent have brief symptoms of insomnia
• 15 to 20 percent have short-term insomnia lasting less than 3 months
• 10 percent have a chronic insomnia disorder, which occurs at least 3 times per week for at least 3 months

A 2019 review articleTrusted Source suggests that as many as 75 percent of adults ages 65 and older have symptoms of insomnia.

ResearchTrusted Source from 2014 demonstrated that about one-fifth of young and preadolescent children have symptoms of insomnia. Prevalence was highest among girls ages 11 and 12 years old

Causes and risk factors

The National Institutes of Health (NIH)Trusted Source list these risk factors for insomnia:

• Age. You’re more likely to have insomnia as you grow older.
• Family history and genetics. Certain genes may affect sleep patterns.
• Environment. Shift work, night work, and jet lag can affect the sleep-wake cycle as well as nighttime noise or light and uncomfortably high or low temperatures.
• Stress. Worry raises the risk of insomnia. Worrying about not getting enough sleep can make it worse.
• Sex. More women than men get insomnia, possibly due to hormonal changes. Pregnancy and menopause can also play a role.

Other lifestyle factors that increase the risk for insomnia include:

• Changing your sleep routine often.
• Being interrupted during sleep.
• Taking long naps during the day.
• Not getting enough exercise.
• Using caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, or certain drugs.
• Using electronic devices too close to bedtime.

In 2019, an AASM survey found that a primary culprit of sleep restriction is binge-watching TV. Of the 2,003 adults who answered the survey:

• 88 percent lost sleep to watch multiple episodes of a TV or streaming series
• 72 percent of adults ages 18 to 34 and 35 percent of those age 35 and older lost sleep to play video games
• 66 percent lost sleep due to reading
• 60 percent missed sleep to watch sports

Sleep disturbances can occur in response to major stressful events, such as natural disasters and violence or war.

The COVID-19 pandemic sparked a worldwide crisis that appears to have affected our sleep. A February 2020Trusted Source study involving 5,641 adults living in China looked at the impact of the pandemic on sleep. Researchers found a 37 percent increase in clinical insomnia from before the pandemic to its peak.

In 2020, an observational study found that post-9/11 veterans are especially vulnerable to insomnia, with 57.2 percent screening positive for insomnia disorder.

There’s also a two-way relationship between sleep disorders and depression. About 90 percentTrusted Source of people with depression have sleep complaints such as insomnia, hypersomnia, sleep disordered breathing, or restless leg syndrome.

Source:

https://www.healthline.com/health/insomnia/infographic-facts-stats-on-insomnia