Turns out we're not the only ones saddled with sleeplessness and too much stress. And we're not the only ones living in a perilous job market and economy that takes its toll on our sleep habits.
According to a new study looking at sleep problems in Luxembourg as compared to the rest of the world, insomnia, nightmares and restlessness are a global problem. And though this latest study was aimed at showing how well (or not) the people of Luxembourg sleep, its findings are telling:
- A whopping 75 percent of Luxembourgers claim to suffer from insomnia due to work anxiety. But the worldwide average? It's 85 percent; that's breathtaking!
So should we move to Luxembourg? Maybe not. The Luxembourgers lose when compared to their peers around the world on handling day-to-day demands and pressures, which accounted for 32 percent of insomnia cases. On a global scale, the day-to-day job stress leaves, on average, 23 percent of workers struggling to sleep.
Other findings that the recruitment company Monster found in the past:
- Finland had the lowest rate of sleeplessness related to workplace stress, with 26 percent of workers saying they experienced no problems.
This last statistic is interesting. Does that factor out all the unemployed people? If you're not working, technically "work" cannot affect your sleep, right? Okay, so I'm probably getting a little too nit-picky. Those folks are likely looking for work (and count that as work) instead of tossing and turning in their beds at night thinking about it.
The point is that our daily stresses have a profound affect on our sleep and whether or not we can achieve restful sleep on a nightly basis. Cultures, traditions, geography, and economic climates aside, we all need sleep. We all feel the pressure of our challenges and struggles in our bedrooms. We all suffer from sleeplessness when things don't go our way.
And those collective experiences alone create a common denominator. A global village, if you will.
Sweet dreams,
Michael J. Breus, Ph.D.
The Sleep Doctor™
www.thesleepdoctor.com