Chinese waking up to a sleep problem
Print Edition
A GOOD night’s sleep has become a luxury for many Chinese living with the stress of a fast-paced society.
A survey by the Chinese Sleep Research Society showed that 76 percent of Chinese from the ages of 10 to 45 suffer from sleep disorders, while only 11 percent of almost 60,000 people surveyed said they regularly sleep the whole night through.
Entrepreneurs suffer most due to career pressure, and 91 percent of them say they still feel tired even after sleep.
In the past, people were hesitant to discuss insomnia with their doctors because they were afraid their problems would be seen as trivial, or conversely, they were afraid they would be told they had a serious illness.
But a growing awareness of what constitutes a healthy lifestyle has brought the topic out into the open.
The fast pace of life, work pressure and extensive use of lighting are all factors resulting in insomnia, said Zhang Bin, deputy director-general of the Chinese Medical Doctors Association’s sleep medicine committee.
The use of computers and mobile phones also affects sleep quality, the survey found. Some 93 percent of respondents spent time watching TV or on the Internet before bed.
Occasional insomnia is common, but constant insomnia may lead to problems such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Drinking alcohol or exercising before bed do not help either.
Statistics show that the risk of depression is greater for insomniacs, and abuse of alcohol and other substances is more prevalent.
The appropriate sleep time for an adult is seven to eight hours, less for the elderly and nine to 10 hours for children, said Lu Lin, head of Peking University Sixth Hospital.
Lu said a lack of sleep could lead to attention disorders in children and even affect brain development.
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