A quarter of the Dutch slept worse this year than in 2021

This is shown by a bed chain study among a thousand Dutch people.

Insomnia due to headache

Neuroscientist and sleep expert Dr. Els van der Helm. Despite giving our sleep an average score of 6.7, 2022 was not a very productive year for our sleep. At least 26 percent of the Dutch slept worse than a year earlier. Reasons why people sleep awake:

• Fear of the future (28 percent)
• Physical pain (24 percent)
• Worries about family, friends and children (22 percent)
• Concerns about finances (19 percent)
• Stress at work (19 percent)
• Concerns about own health (17 percent)

Never equipped

Unfortunately, many people have not been able to wake up well rested this year. 30 percent of respondents only feel calm once or twice a week when they wake up. This does not even apply to 21 percent. For example, half feel more stressed and even less happy if they have a bad night’s sleep (53 percent).

connected to smartphone

An increasingly common bad habit is exposing yourself to bright (and sometimes blue) light before going to bed. A quarter and 28 percent of Dutch viewing lines swipe on their smartphone before going to sleep. Nearly half (46 percent) have trouble falling asleep or wake up regularly during the night. Then fifteen minutes turn the phone back on. Van der Helm: “Because of that extra brain stimulation, we no longer feel as tired as before and it is even more difficult for us to fall asleep. Bright light also suppresses the sleep hormone melatonin. This is how we make it even better. It’s hard for us to fall asleep.”

Make sleeping a blessing

It is striking that a quarter of the Dutch try to get some sleep once or twice a week during the day. “When you go to sleep, you feel better in the short term, but only long naps of about 90 minutes really put you to sleep, because only then do you go through all the sleep phases,” explains Van der Helm. “What helps is learning good sleeping habits and setting up a fixed sleeping ritual. Mindfulness, for example, can help against anxiety. These are all tools and tips to help us improve our sleep habits in small, realistic steps. In my opinion, “we need to make 2023 the year we put sleep and a good night’s sleep at the top of our resolutions list.”

The survey also revealed some positive things. For example, more than one in three people falls asleep within fifteen minutes. 35 percent need fifteen minutes to half an hour – still a good balance according to science. A large part also chooses to ignore the snooze function: more than half (57 percent) never use the snooze button.

The research was conducted by the independent field research organization Panel Inzicht on behalf of Swiss Sense among 1,000 Dutch respondents aged 18+, both working and non-working, from September to October 2022 and is represented nationally by age, gender, region, education and employment opportunities. situation. .