Sleepless in America
Are you getting the rest needed to rejuvenate your body like God designed?
Failure to get a good night sleep is a major problem in America.
Consider these facts:
There are over 3,000 sleep disorder clinics in America.
Most have started within the last 25 years.
CNN estimates that the U.S. loses more than $60 billion a year due to lost productivity caused by sleep disturbances. [1]
Tens of thousands are injured and 1500 plus deaths occur every year due to falling asleep while driving. [2]
The CDC reports an estimated 50-70 million U.S. adults have sleep or wakefulness disorder. [3]
There are more than 100 different types of known sleep disorders.[4]
Some common sleep disorders include:
Difficulty falling asleep
Frequently waking during the night
Inability to fall back to sleep after waking during the night
Restless leg syndrome
Tossing and turning
Grinding teeth
Sleep apnea (breathing stops and starts)
Snoring
Narcolepsy (falling asleep unexpectedly during the waking hours)
One common thread in these disorders is the inability of the sleeper to enter a state of deep sleep so the body can get the rest needed to rejuvenate itself the way God designed.
Before we can get this kind of deep sleep, we need to understand what it looks like. Here are some questions we must answer:
What is deep sleep?
What affect does deep sleep have on our body?
What are the mechanics of sleep during the night?
Once we consider these issues, we can then offer some specific ways of achieving a restful night of sleep. However, deep sleep is not an isolated piece of a puzzle. It is merely one piece of healthy living that is addressed in this study. We are not looking for a bandaid sleeping remedy - we are looking for the systemic, root causes with the end goal of an overall healthier life. Good sleep can come from applying all the principles of this health study, including the sections which follow after this principle of rest. Our next post will consider and identify exactly what we should expect from a good night's sleep.
Next: Identifying A Good Night's Sleep
Return to: Biblical Health Study
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[1] http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/01/health/insomnia-cost-productivity/
[2] http://drowsydriving.org/about/facts-and-stats/
[3] http://www.cdc.gov/features/dssleep/
[4] http://sleep.stanford.edu/sleep-disorders/