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Sleep Deprivation: What are the costs?

By: Denny Holland, Ph.D., LPC, NCC

According to some experts, our society is so chronically sleep deprived that we are becoming used to functioning at a reduced level. Since 1900 the average amount of sleep in our society has gone from over nine hours to approximately 6.4 hours -- although the average adult still needs around eight hours sleep and most adolescents at least nine hours. Giving up sleep is becoming an accepted norm.

According to statistics from the National Sleep Foundation sleep deprived adults are likely to fall asleep while on the job, doze off while driving and give up sleep to get more done.
Tired adolescents and shift-workers are most at risk for driving accidents and recent research from the UK suggests that sleepiness and fatigue surpasses alcohol and drugs as the greatest identifiable and preventable cause of transportation accidents.

Unfortunately, this attitude also affects our children. For example, experts predict that 85% of adolescents are chronically sleep deprived. Approximately one-third of high school and college students fall asleep in class at least once a week and experts fear that reduced sleep among our children leads to impaired health, development, behavior, mood, performance and learning.

COSTS

The lack of sleep results in significant costs, to individuals, to organizations and to society as whole. For the individual sleep deprivation represents health and safety risks, decreased productivity, and disruptions in relationships due to mood decrements and irritability. Physiologically, for example, there is a growing body of evidence demonstrating a negative impact of reduced sleep on the immune system. Also, we are just scratching the surface of our understanding how the lack of sleep affects growth hormones and the general health of adolescents.

It is estimated that sleep deprivation and fatigue may cost society from $70-$150B annually, while organizations may lose over $20B annually in accidents, absenteeism and lost productivity. These costs represent such risks as decreases in vigilance, judgment, and reaction time; and increases in attention lapses, microsleeps, and apathy. Moreover, fatigued individuals are less ambitious, slower at tasks and have difficulty making decisions.

Reduced sleep negatively impacts cognitive abilities affecting productivity, creativity and critical thinking. All this results in bottom line losses and increased risk for accidents.
Exxon Valdez, Challenger, Bhopal, Chernobyl, and Three-Mile Island are examples of disasters related to human fatigue.

SOLUTIONS

Education is the single most important tool in addressing fatigue and sleep deprivation. Although we all sleep, few people really understand the importance of sleep and the effects of sleep deprivation. While sleep is a vital physical need, just like food, water, and oxygen, individuals give up sleep for more time; and organizations continue to demand longer working hours. Unfortunately, few individuals and organizations understand the long-term negative effects on health, cognitive abilities, and creativity.

The following recommendations are offered to help both individuals and organizations ensure that sleep and rest are priorities.

Individuals

Practice good general health--proper nutrition, exercise (not too close to bedtime), and moderate use of alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine.

Keep regular bed/wake times when possible.

Develop and use a regular pre-sleep routine. Use this routine when traveling. Protect sleep from other demands.

Sleep is a behavioral activity; therefore, it is possible to teach yourself that your sleeping environment is unfriendly. For example, using your bed or bedroom for work activities.

Improve your sleeping environment. Ensure that noise is masked, if necessary by using some sort of “white noise." A cool temperature is preferable and make sure the room is dark, using special shades or a sleep mask, if necessary.

If you do not fall asleep in approximately 30 minutes, get up and perform a boring, quiet activity in another room until sleepy.

Also, if ruminating, write down your concerns with a short action plan.

Remember sleep is a behavioral activity and we can easily associate negative activities and thoughts with our sleep environment.

Organizations

Offer education to employees and their families. Education should provide stakeholders with sufficient understanding to create realistic work schedules, enact appropriate countermeasures and ensure individual responsibility.

Fatigue countermeasures should be scientifically based.

Affected employees should initiate and “own” scheduling efforts through a consultative process with management that recognizes individual, organizational and operational differences.

Fatigue management programs should be comprehensive and integrated. Single dimension solutions rarely work with this complex problem.

Fatigue cannot be entirely eliminated, however, the problem can be managed and the risks reduced.

There is a growing body of scientific evidence demonstrating the damage caused by reduced sleep.

Sleep is a vital need and an important human function, not an encumbrance.

For additional information see the National Sleep Foundation website or the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

For additional reading material check out the following:

References:

Coleman, R. M. (1986). Wide Awake at 3:00 AM: By Choice or By Chance. Stanford, CA: Stanford Alumni Association.  

Dement, W. (1992). The Sleepwatchers. Menlo Park, CA: Nychthemeron Press.

Dement, W. (1999). The Promise of Sleep. New York, NY: Random House.

Harrison, Y. & Horne, J. (2000). The Impact of Sleep Deprivation on Decision Making: A Review. Journal of Experimental Psychology-Applied Vol.6(3) (236-249).

Maas, J. B. (1998). Power Sleep: The Revolutionary Program That Prepares Your Mind for Peak Performance. New York, NY: Villard Books.

Moore-Ede, M. (1993). The Twenty-Four Hour Society. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Monk, T. (1989). How to Make Shifwork Safe and Productive. Des Plaines, IL: American Society of Safety Engineers.

Pressman, M. & Orr, W. (Eds.) (1997). Understanding Sleep: The Evaluation and Treatment of Sleep Disorders. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Westfall-Lake, P. & McBride, G. (1998). Shiftwork Safety and Performance: A Manual for Managers and Trainers. Boca Raton, FL: Lewis Publishers.