There is a crisis in Britain today that is simultaneously crippling our physical wellbeing, eroding our productivity, corrupting our relationships and drowning our mental health. It is the crisis of sleeplessness.
Sleepless in Britain
It is estimated that a third of UK adults suffer from insomnia, and only a third of estimated insomniacs have been diagnosed with the condition, leaving most without the help they need. The problem is even worse among young people, with 57 per cent of 17-23 year-olds plagued by sleep deprivation, though I do not need stats to see this. The number of times sleeplessness has come up in conversation at school makes it feel like everyone my age has this problem.
The consequences of this epidemic of tired, aching brains are clear. Swarms of people begin the day with their concentration dulled and their judgment impaired, hindering their ability to work, study, and communicate effectively.
And yet, despite the corrosive effects of insomnia being both vast and intense, this epidemic is absent from political discussion. Worse still, most people do not see sleep deprivation as something that warrants political debate, but as the exclusive concern of the sufferer. But the stats are clear: if so many people in our society experience a lack of sleep, then it cannot be written off as a personal tragedy. Insomnia is a social problem, and one that has social causes which must be investigated if a solution is to be found.
The Root of the Problem
So, just what is causing our collective sleeplessness? Technology is the obvious culprit, with blue screens disrupting our natural sleep processes. As well as this, the addictive nature of our favourite devices often seduces us to keep scrolling into the late hours through TikTok and Instagram reels.
But I want to focus more on the forgotten forces behind this crisis, starting with our food. Ultra-processed foods correlate suspiciously with sleep problems, yet they dominate our diets by comprising 57 per cent of our daily intake. As a society, we seem to be living on insomnia inducers. And who can blame us? As people’s finances are squeezed by the brutal rise in the cost of living and job focus becomes an increasing priority, quick, cheap junk food starts to look appealing and is often unavoidable.
The other factor in our sleeplessness epidemic is work and its ability to bleed far beyond set hours. The influx of emails to plough through and other work worries can make it impossible to switch off. The situation for students is not much better. I know from experience how the collective pressure to do well in school affects the ability to sleep. Our work-driven culture has fostered a dangerous cycle of people going to bed stressed, not working to their potential because of a lack of sleep, and, ironically, being more stressed and more sleep-deprived as a result.
The early starts also need addressing, especially when it comes to schools. Teenagers’ biology does not cope well with early rises. As quality sleep is compromised, academic achievement becomes that much harder.
Our problematic socioeconomic structure is arguably at the root of our bad habits and subsequent insomnia, and this is not something that sleeping pills or camomile tea can remedy. The remedy must come from the top.
A New Deal for Sleep
So, how do we rescue sleep? In short, through radical change. The government has already taken steps to tackle health conditions such as obesity and lung health. This includes the phasing out of smoking, expanding taxation on sugary drinks, and a bigger focus on mental health in the NHS — such as the new NHS 111 service. These are all positive steps that will relieve people from factors which can contribute to sleep problems. A bigger step might involve changing how we regulate and tax ultra-processed foods.
But more importantly, we need to change the way we think about sleep in our culture. Too often, sleep is seen as something to be dismissed and sacrificed for the sake of finishing homework or taking another scroll through social media. Unless we start prioritising sleep and teaching the importance of sleep hygiene in schools, these bad habits will continue to plague us. None of this means reducing the importance of work; it’s more about putting its importance into perspective. After all, it is hard to produce good work when suffering from an aching brain that’s crying for sleep.
Finally, treating sleep deprivation as a social issue will go a long way in helping us to find better solutions. For too long, our individualistic culture has prevented us from seeing the intersection between personal problems and the wider social context. Sleep issues are but one consequence of this. Another is the rise in depression and anxiety. A single person, family, or your GP cannot be expected to fight the tide of social forces; only social change can do this.
By placing sleep on the political agenda, we can move beyond staggering through the day tired and over-caffeinated, and instead flourish on the back of a good night’s rest.
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