Sleep is an important factor in all of our lives, but if you dread bed or lose sleep by counting sheep – you’re not alone. Across the UK, nocturnal nightmares are on the rise as new research this National Bed Month has revealed the issues most likely to keep us up at night.
The research, from hybrid mattress brand OTTY, has found that Birmingham is the UK’s most sleep anxious city with an increase of 9300% in searches for sleep anxiety since 2004. Here are the top 10 issues across the UK.
Top sleep issues in the UK (and who’s searching for them the most)
Sleep Issue | Percentage Increase | City |
Sleep anxiety | 9300% | Birmingham |
Sleep amount | 7300% | London |
Back pain | 5100% | London |
Parasomnias | 3100% | London |
Sleep apnoea | 418% | Glasgow |
Night terrors | 228% | Brighton |
Can’t sleep | 196% | Liverpool |
Nightmares | 146% | Glasgow |
Sleepwalking | 116% | Liverpool |
Narcolepsy | 58% | Cambridge |
Bringing in expert advice from mental health counsellors and sleep physicians OTTY has delved into the effects of losing sleep and how much sleep you really need for optimal brain function.
Alex Dimitriu, MD, a double board-certified physician in psychiatry and sleep medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine suggests,: ‘Seven to eight hours of sleep is ideal for most people. We should aim to be realistic, and ideally create a “window” of time for sleep of eight or nine hours; with the realisation that despite our efforts, we all end up sleeping a little less than we planned.’
