Why your sleep is not deep

Can’t sleep at night? Can’t sleep naturally? Can’t fall asleep instantly? Can’t fall asleep at all? Well you’re not alone. Chronic sleep disorders affect 1 in 10 Australians, and general sleep disturbance affects even more. In this article we’re jumping into the snooze lab to get a clearer picture of how Australians are faring with their sleep health, and what the primary drivers are behind poor sleep. The purpose of this article is to give you the underlying triggers of poor sleep from a holistic perspective so you understand why you can’t sleep at night. I’m all about understanding the reasons for dis-ease. Don’t just tell me what to take, tell me the why and how so that I can move on and fix it!

I’ll give you insights from a uniquely natural perspective so that you can see how nuanced the mechanism of sleep actually is and I’ll let you in on the latest insights into sleep disorders and why they’re so prevalent. Perhaps there’s more to your sleep woes than just stress or too much screen time. I’ll show you just how many elements there are to consider when your sleep is not deep.

In my next sleep article (coming soon) I share my unique and time tested approach to treating sleep disturbance, and give you age-appropriate holistic advice on how to finally get that deliciously deep shut-eye that you’ve been craving, and do it naturally. But try not to jump forwards to that one just yet! We need to understand the territory of sleep first to be best able to implement that advice wisely.

What is ‘poor sleep’?

Poor sleep occurs with:

1. Loss of sleep depth to the point where sleep is no longer restorative
2. Shortened sleep duration where the duration of sleep is insufficient to fuel your energy and alertness the following day
3. Fragmented sleep patterns where you wake through the night and may or may not have difficulty falling asleep again

There are many effects of chronic sleep disturbance including:

• fatigue and low energy
• increased stress and anxiety
• mental fogginess
• mood swings
• lowered immunity
• reduced pain tolerance
• poor eating habits due to fatigue
• premature aging

Poor sleep quality actually has implications for all body systems. While we tend to focus on how we ‘feel’ as a temporary experience, the deeper issue with poor sleep is that it’s associated with chronic diseases (conditions manifested for 3 months or more) like hypertension and diabetes, which pervade the disease and lifestyle landscape of the 21^st century. More on that soon…

Where we stand with sleep 

First up, let’s get some context. How are you doing compared to other Australians? Here are some recent stats from national sleep surveys over the past couple of years:

• 60% of Australians suffer sleep disturbance or symptoms 3 or more times a week. This includes difficulty falling asleep, maintaining sleep or waking too early.
• Nearly 49% of Australians have a daily routine that regularly compromises their ability to get adequate sleep!
• 14.8% of Australians suffer from chronic insomnia (meeting International Classification of Sleep Disorders criteria) [Reynolds, 2019]
• Those aged over 65 years are more likely to report waking multiple times through the night.
• 32% of Australians aged 18 – 24 years have difficulty falling asleep.
• Worrying keeps around half of Australians (51%) up at night on a regular basis.
• More than half of Australians (53%) have a medical condition that detrimentally affects their sleep quality like chronic pain, snoring and anxiety.
• Women (35%) were more likely to worry about lack of sleep quality compared to men (25%)

COVID-19 hasn’t helped either! It made us more anxious, uncertain and vigilant which together impacted sleep quality globally. Nothing like a pandemic to activate those adrenals! So my friend, if you’re having issues with sleep, join the club. It seems that half of the country is here with you and we’re all feeling nocturnally challenged.

Young People and Sleep

Some researchers believe that sleep durations in young people have been steadily declining since the late 1990s for many reasons. Most significantly, if you look into the history of social media you’ll find the first social channel ‘Six Degrees’ emerged in 1997 followed by Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Whatsapp in the early 2000s. And don’t even get me started on Netflix!

Over half of 16 – 17 year olds don’t get enough sleep and the lack of sleep was found to contribute to anxiety, depression and struggles to meet learning guidelines at school.

The cost of poor sleep

When it comes to health system costs, insomnia and other sleep difficulties outshine most other common chronic disease like diabetes, coronary artery disease and workplace injuries.  As you’ll see in the chart below from this 2021 study, sleep disorders costs are a whole other level! Poor sleep cost the Australian economy $14.4 billion over the 19/20 financial year (which equates to 0.73% Australian GDP).