Lifestyle Healthy Mind Healthy Sleeping Habits

Nearly 1,500 Well+Good Readers Answered Our Sleep Survey—and the Results Are a Serious Wake-up Call

Kells McPhillips

February 25, 2019

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"Love: Everyone wants it, but not everyone finds it," was the oft-quoted (and, okay, oft-ridiculed) mantra of Bravo's Millionaire Matchmaker before the show wrapped in 2015. If you ask me though, an equally scintillating spin-off series could be launched where the word "love" is swapped for "sleep." Because yes, so many of us sleep-thirsty Americans, who log an hour less on average (6.8 hours per night) than we did in 1942, per a 2013 Gallup survey, would love for Mr. Sandman to finally put a proverbial ring on it. (And now, we have numbers to prove it.)

Well+Good recently surveyed nearly 1,500 people about their sleep habits and health (or, *sigh*, lack thereof). Some key takeaways? 92 percent of respondents report feeling fatigued more than one day per week; 65 percent point to general stress for constantly keeping them awake; and 70 percent say their fitness goals suffer as a result of sleeplessness. When asked how they remedy bouts of insomnia, the majority (53 percent) report turning to meditation, with natural sleep-aids like melatonin (52 percent) and CBD (28 percent) named, too.

Perhaps most strikingly of all, though, is that on average, people report clocking in seven hours of sleep instead of their desired eight. Remember that earlier-cited stat from Gallup? Folks are still logging just about an hour less on average than they did in the mid-20th century. So, it seems like high time we all renew our vows to sleeping our way to better mental and physical health. So let's get started, shall we?