In 1995, the National Sleep Foundation conducted a Gallup Poll survey that revealed that 49% of Americans reported trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep.   Publications ranging from the New York Times and USA Weekend to health care periodicals and medical journals have been citing sleep deprivation as America's latest "silent epidemic."

Many people suffering from routine sleep loss are not even aware of it, and many who do realize they are not getting enough sleep are not aware of what it is costing them.   Yet one out of every two adults is not getting the sleep they need; an increase of 33% over just the past five years according to the NSF.

These findings are causing researchers to start investigating and discussing the effects of this growing national sleep debt on individuals and society as a whole.   The surprising results are that if you want to be productive and creative, to function at your best, and to be a successful problem solver, the best thing you can do is get a good night's sleep every night.

How does not getting enough sleep affect us according to the sleep researchers?

• Problem solving skills are impaired. Research at the Sleep Research Center based at Loughborough University in Leicestershire, England, has demonstrated that sleep loss (simply not getting enough sleep) noticeably impairs our ability to comprehend rapidly changing situations, increases the likelihood of distraction, makes us think more rigidly and less flexibly, and reduces our ability to produce innovative solutions to problems.
  
• Communication skills suffer. The research at Loughborough University went on to show how sleep loss reduced the words in one's vocabulary both verbally and in writing, resulting in stilted conversations and a greater use of cliches.
  
• Learning and memory suffer. A 1996 study in the United States demonstrates how a group of 10-14 years olds allowed to sleep for a full 10 hours per night performed far better on tests of memory, verbal fluency and overall creativity than students who were only allowed to sleep half that time.   This has been reinforced by the Loughborough University studies showing the cerebral cortex to be the part of the body most affected by inadequate sleep.   They have shown a direct connection between sleep loss and our abilities to concentrate and remember.
  
• Motor skills are impaired. Numerous studies ranging from those conducted by Loughborough University to ones conducted by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have demonstrated a direct connection between sleepiness and impaired hand-eye coordination. The degree of impairment has led researchers to compare it in severity to drunkenness.   The combination of impaired judgment and diminished hand-eye coordination leads to at least 100,000 automobile accidents per year according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and numerous home and industrial accidents.

How significant is this in the workplace? The National Commission on Sleep Disorders estimates that sleep loss alone is costing American businesses $150 billion per year in higher stress, inattention, and diminished workplace productivity.   A 1997 National Sleep Foundation survey discovered that "an alarming one-third of American adults scored at levels of sleepiness known to be hazardous."   Out of those reporting daytime sleepiness, 40% admit that it does interfere with their day-to-day activities.   For some it is their social lives that suffer, for others it is their families, but for most it is their workplace activities that suffer.   This type of sleepiness is a major contributor to inattention, which accounts for one-sixth of all accidents and countless number of poor decisions.   This type of sleepiness has been cited as a significant contributing factor to the Chernobyl disaster, the Challenger explosion and approximately 100,000 automobile accidents during the past year.

What can a person do?   Primarily recognize that sleep researchers are now showing us that sufficient sleep is as critical to peak performance as proper diet and exercise.   The research is showing that the ROI for taking an extra half-hour to an hour for sleep per night is much more significant than we have previously realized.