Britain - the land that sleep forgot

Britain's sleep deprivation crisis is getting worse with serious effects for the economy and the workplace. Researchers surveyed the sleep patterns of 6,000 adults on behalf of the hotel chain Travelodge. They found that 28% of workers said they had taken a day off work following a bad night's sleep - equivalent to 8 million sick days a year and something estimated to cost employers £1bn. More than half of the sample (56%) said that they had felt like they had a bad hangover when they had not had enough sleep and 45% said it had taken a couple of days to recover. A third said they had found it difficult to concentrate driving to and from work after a bad night's sleep while 70% admitted that they were a horrible person to work with when they had not had enough sleep. A quarter of adults claimed to take a catnap at work with 16% dozing at their desk and 10% retreating to the toilet for forty winks. The top three causes of sleep deprivation were money worries (38%), work-related stress (25%) and noisy family members or neighbours (23%).

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7768447/Britons-have-lost-almost-an-hours-sleep-a-night-during-the-recession-claims-study.html