The eye-opening cost of America?s insomnia

By Quentin Fottrell

In yet another sign Americans are sleeping less, the number of sleep clinics has reached an all-time high. And while sleeplessness is big business, worth over $32 billion, it?s an even bigger economic problem -- costing nearly twice that in lost productivity.

More Americans are seeking help for sleep-related conditions like insomnia and sleep apnea. On Wednesday, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine accredited its 2,500th sleep center, reporting that the number of sleep centers has doubled over the past five years and increased fivefold over the past decade.

The economic costs now run into billions of dollars a year. Nearly a quarter of all workers are affected by sleeplessness, according to a 2011 study by Harvard Medical School. And insomnia costs an average of $2,280 per worker in reduced productivity every year ? a total cost of $63.2 billion to the economy, the study says. That equates to 11 working days lost annually for each worker, says Ronald C. Kessler, lead author of the study and McNeil Family Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School.

The prescription drug epidemic

More Americans now die each year from prescription drug overdoses than from cocaine, heroin and other illegal drugs.

So why are Americans losing sleep? Since the 2008 recession, more people are lying awake at night worrying about their financial situation and job security, says Nathaniel F. Watson, president of the American Board of Sleep Medicine. (In fact, one-third of Americans lose sleep over the economy, according to one 2009 poll by the National Sleep Foundation.) The rise in U.S. obesity rates is another major factor, Watson says. But others are less certain. ?There are lots of pop-psychology theories,? Kessler says. ?One thing we do know ? it?s pervasive through all sections of society.?

Whatever the causes, consumers are spending billions of dollars to get some shut-eye. The ?sleep market? industry is currently worth over $32 billion, up from nearly $24 billion four years ago, according to John LaRosa, research director at MarketData Enterprises, a market research company in Tampa. Some 70 million Americans suffer from sleeplessness. Desperate for the perfect night?s sleep, they?re buying sleeping pills, premium mattresses, white noise machines, sleeping masks, mobile phone apps and other sleep-related paraphernalia.

But people need help staying awake too, which is compounding the problem. ?There?s an enormous amount of self-medication for sleeplessness in America,? Kessler says. ?That?s one reason why the sales of supercaffeinated energy drinks are skyrocketing.? Sales of energy drinks in the U.S. grew by around 16% last year to $8.9 billion, according to ?Beverage Digest,? an industry publication. There are better ways of dealing with insomnia, Kessler says, like cutting down on caffeine and not playing on your smartphone or watching TV in bed late at night.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=A3470F52-4AE4-11E2-ACE1-002128040CF6&siteid=yhoof2

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