Harmony Healthcare IT data on the struggle to fall asleep

6 facts about sleep deprivation that will keep employers up at night

July 19, 2022 2:57 PM

Between talks of a recession and an ever-evolving, contagious virus, there’s a lot that might be keeping people up at night. In fact, anyone fighting to get sleep these days is far from alone.

A survey from data management firm Harmony Healthcare IT found that nine out of 10 people struggle to fall asleep, and more than half reported struggling to sleep at all at least once a week. But that doesn’t mean people aren’t trying to get a good night’s rest. Harmony Healthcare IT explored several factors that point to the state of sleep in the U.S., examining recent sleep-focused Google searches dominating the internet to habits that may be making sleep even more elusive.

“The survey revealed that the vast majority of people admit to struggling with sleep,” says Tricia Harte, outreach manager for Harmony Healthcare IT. “Nationwide, people are looking for remedies and reasons for their sleep problems.”

Constant lack of sleep does not bode well for personal health or professional performance — sleep deficiency can weaken one’s immunity, increase the risk for blood pressure and heart disease, lead to anxiety and depression and cause cognitive impairment.

So why are so many Americans putting their wellbeing at risk? Here are 6 things to know about the state of sleep in America, according to Harmony Healthcare IT.

Americans are seriously concerned about their lack of sleep

Six states, namely Delaware, Iowa, New Hampshire, Maine, Nebraska and Montana had “insomnia clinic” as their top Google search related to sleep, pointing to the severity with which people experience sleep troubles. Louisiana’s top sleep-related search was a medical reimbursement code for insomnia.

“Aside from the fact that people are depending on the internet to search for medical solutions, we are seeing respondents in these states look for professional help rather than simple how-to’s or sleep aids,” says Harte. “This indicates that there's a high level of people who are truly struggling to fall asleep to the point where they think they may need some type of medical attention.”

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Other popular state-wide searches ranged from “How to fall asleep fast?” to just “insomnia.” In Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming, the top search was “What happens if you don’t sleep for a day?” Harte notes that while these searches cannot definitively prove which states have a more sleep-deprived population, it does point to slight variations in a universal problem.

Which cities truly never sleep?

Based on its search data, Harmony Healthcare IT concluded the most sleep-deprived cities are Las Vegas, Baltimore, Denver, Seattle and Boston. In a twist, New York, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Antonio and Chicago placed as the top five least sleep-deprived cities. New York actually has the lowest number of “insomnia” searches out of the 30 most populated cities in the U.S.

The pandemic is leaving a mark

Harmony’s respondents were asked to compare their current quality of sleep to the start of the pandemic: One in five reported sleeping worse since March 2020.

“We’re more than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, and the stress has compounded over the course of this experience,” says Harte. “People may also be spending more time indoors, and a dependency on screens becomes a big habit.”

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Work from home could be making it harder for people to disconnect in the evenings before bed as well, explains Harte. But there’s no question that the mental and physical strain left in the pandemic’s wake has not chipped away at people’s quality of sleep.

Thinking is keeping people wide awake

Harmony Healthcare IT asked respondents to share the main reason they cannot fall asleep, and 40% agreed that they were having trouble turning off their minds before bed. Nine percent pointed to health issues like anxiety and physical pain, while another 16% specified relationships or finances as the root cause. Surprisingly, current events took the last spot, with only 4% reporting it as a barrier to sleep.

Counterintuitive sleep habits

According to Harmony’s survey, 76% of people look at their phones before going to sleep, and eight out 10 sleep with their phones within arm’s reach. This means a majority of Americans are exposing themselves to blue light at arguably the worst time.

“People's basic instinct to go to those phones for a distraction could actually be compromising their ability to fall asleep,” says Harte. “There's research showing that blue light can actually make it harder to fall asleep and even disrupt sleep time.”

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Harvard researchers found that blue light is exceptionally good at suppressing the secretion of melatonin, a natural hormone that increases at night and helps induce sleep. When comparing the effects of 6.5 hours of exposure to blue light and green light, blue light managed to suppress melatonin for about twice as long.

People aren’t pulling all-nighters for fun

While 84% of Harmony’s respondents admitted that they have pulled an all-nighter before and over half regretted it, two-thirds would be willing to do it again. On top of that, more than half of the respondents felt they had to stay awake all night for the sake of work or school, and 30% simply could not fall asleep. Only 16% cited parties or hanging out with friends behind their all-nighters.

For Harte, this means a majority of Americans do want to sleep, despite unhealthy sleep habits or external pressures keeping them up, which has been a pattern throughout Harmony’s data.

“This is not an issue limited to when we try to fall asleep at night — this impacts people’s day-to-day,” says Harte. “Hopefully this data brings a little bit of attention to how people assess how their lack of sleep and know they are not alone.”