Sleep Health

In recent months, LUCY has applied to the project team leader for "late report submission" several times.

Recently, she has been sleeping restlessly, basically waking up every two hours. LUCY said that she has suffered from anxiety disorder for many years and has been taking anti - anxiety medications all year round. Usually, she would sleep well after taking the medicine, but since spring, she still can't sleep well even after taking the medicine, so she started seeking help online.

At 2 a.m., after the post was sent out, it quickly received a large number of responses. Many people said that they had the same problem. "It turns out that everyone is the same: can't fall asleep all the time and wake up early, and it's hard to fall back asleep after waking up. It's even more frustrating to read these." LUCY said.

Sleep problems don't seem to be something new. In recent years, social platforms have been filled with a large number of topics about "can't fall asleep" and "lack of sleep". Taking REDDIT as an example, the browsing volume of relevant entries about "insomnia" has reached 2.8 billion, and the frequency of discussions is 28.844 million.

The "2025 Sleep Health Research White Paper" released by the Global Sleep Big Data Center shows that as of February 2025, the average sleep duration of the global population aged 18 and above is 6.85 hours. Among them, 1/4 of the population sleeps less than 6 hours, and more than half of the population goes to bed after midnight. What's more serious is that 65% of the population has 1 - 2 sleep problems per week, mainly manifested as waking up at night/early in the morning, difficulty falling asleep, going to the toilet at night, etc.

Somehow, having a good sleep has become a wish for many people.

In 2017, a book titled "The Sleep Revolution: How to Sleep Better" was published and quickly became a best - seller that year. It has been reprinted several times in recent years and is very popular.

The author, Nick Littlehales (hereinafter referred to as Nick), was the sports sleep coach of the Premier League's Manchester United and also served as an advisor to the NBA, the British Olympic team, and Real Madrid Football Club. He is quite famous in the European and American sports circles. He is also the former president of the British Sleep Society and has been engaged in scientific sleep research for more than 30 years. In his book, he first publicly introduced his original R90 sleep program, teaching people how to get high - quality sleep.

Recently, Nick came to China. During his busy schedule of promotion and business negotiations, he took some time to talk to us about the sleep of East Asians, as well as his observations and suggestions.

In today's fast - paced era, the nights in big cities are always brightly lit. The mobile phone screens on the streets, in the offices, and in front of the dormitory beds are glowing with a faint light. Young people spend one sleepless night after another in staying up late, anxiety, and fatigue. On the surface, it is the acceleration of the pace of life, but behind it, the sleep crisis has already spread quietly.

"Fear of sleep is the main enemy."

In Nick's sleep observations, people's anxiety about sleep often starts from "being afraid of not being able to fall asleep".

Edison, who often works overtime, is a case in point. Going to bed at 0:00, he just couldn't fall asleep. So Edison decided to use the original sleep - aid method - counting sheep. 1, 2, 3... 100... 200... How come he seemed to be more awake?

He felt that his brain was out of his control. The harder he tried to close his eyes, the more active his brain became. It started to replay what had happened during the day. The more he tried to stop himself from daydreaming, the more his thoughts wandered.

After working all day, by around 3 a.m., his body was really tired and sleepy. Listening to his heartbeat speeding up, he kept changing his sleeping position, but still couldn't fall asleep.

He didn't remember exactly when he finally fell asleep. It seemed that the alarm clock rang as soon as he fell asleep. The same situation happened repeatedly in the past month. "It's like I haven't slept at all."

Forcing himself to go to work, the feeling of dizziness lingered. He always couldn't concentrate, and he couldn't listen to what others were saying to him. Even worse, he felt that his memory was continuously declining and he always forgot things. His friend suggested that he take melatonin or sleeping pills, but he was worried that the drugs would be bad for his body and that he would become dependent on them once he took them. So he could only endure it on his own. "The nights are really hard to get through."

Linda also had similar problems. She had difficulty falling asleep and was very awake in her sleep. She hardly had a good sleep for almost a week. Later, she couldn't stand it anymore, so she made an appointment with the sleep department of the hospital. After taking the medicine, she could sleep for 6 - 7 hours. There were no side effects so far, and she was quite satisfied. "As long as I can fall asleep."

What's more terrible than insomnia is the anxiety about insomnia. Every night before going to bed, many people calculate "how many hours I can still sleep if I go to sleep now" while scrolling through their phones. As a result, the more they calculate, the more anxious they become, and the anxiety leads to insomnia, falling into a vicious circle.

"I feel like I have a strong psychological hint - as long as I think about what if I can't fall asleep before going to bed, I start to have trouble sleeping." LUCY sighed.

Hearing this, Nick frowned slightly. "It's being made too serious."

"Should I go to sleep? Can I fall asleep? How long can I sleep? How will I feel after sleeping? There are too many reasons that make people anxious before going to sleep." Nick thought. "We know to drink water when we're thirsty and eat when we're hungry without being reminded. Why do we need a reminder for sleep? Fear of sleep is the main enemy."

The global sleep deficit

The global data platform Landgeist released the global sleep map in 2021. The data shows that the countries with the shortest average sleep time in Asia are Japan and South Korea, both less than 6.3 hours.

The European sleep map released by Landgeist at the same time shows that among the countries with valid sleep data, only Turkey fails to reach the recommended average sleep time of 7 hours.

In addition, data from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co - operation and Development) shows that in 2024, the average annual working hours of South Korean workers reached 1901 hours, while that of Japanese workers was 1607 hours, and this figure was only 1571 hours in EU countries.

Why is it so difficult for young people to fall asleep nowadays?

Landgeist's sleep research analysis suggests that it may be because the population density in most cities is relatively high.

Cities are also often noisier, which can disrupt people's sleep, and the tropical climate also makes it difficult for people to fall asleep.

As for Japan and South Korea, one of the reasons may be the high - pressure work culture. Overtime is very common in these two countries. Even after work, most office workers often go out to eat and drink with colleagues and bosses. Especially in Japan, it is very common for office workers to go to izakayas after work. They stay out until the early morning and have to return to the office on time the next morning.

A two - hour commute and working overtime until late at night. The routine life is so overwhelming. There is less and less time for oneself, so one can only "steal" a little freedom in the dead of night. "The day belongs to others, only the night belongs to myself." Edison said.

There is also the precise feeding of algorithms. Many people think "I'll just brush some videos and then go to sleep", but end up scrolling until 3 a.m. Linda admitted, "I'm not brushing short - videos because they are so good - looking. I just don't want to go to sleep."

Staying up late has already become a daily routine for young people. Whether it's burning the midnight oil for an exam, commuting on the subway in the middle of the night and only being able to take a nap by leaning on the window, or having a rich nightlife, sleep problems have penetrated into every detail of this group's life. Some people on the Internet even joke that South Korean young people have evolved to not need sleep and only rely on coffee and nutritional supplements to survive.

Nick is not surprised by the "voluntary insomnia" of some people. The same situation has happened repeatedly in different eras. Nick recalled that when he was in his twenties, he just wanted to play, have fun, and work without any limits. He found everything interesting, liked excitement, and did cool things. "Because you think you have endless energy, can do anything, and have no fear. And you think this state will never change."

However, what surprises him is that although people nowadays attach importance to sleep, few of them actively strive for better sleep. In other words, in Nick's view, people's control and intervention in sleep are still far from enough.

Taking control of sleep

Many doctors suggest that most adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep. Sleep is an important part of overall health. Lack of sleep can lead to many health problems, including memory decline, weakened immune system, depression, weight gain, decision - making mistakes, and a higher probability of suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease.

For people with sleep disorders, these are not the most important things. What they care more about is whether they can have a good sleep tonight.

LUCY said that she can hardly remember the feeling of waking up refreshed. She has tried almost all the sleep - aid techniques on the Internet, such as soaking feet, meditation, aromatherapy, and sleep - aid apps. She set a deadline. If it still doesn't work this week, she will go to the hospital.

This period has made her feel the importance of sleep for the first time. "Only when you sleep well can you be clear - headed the next day, your body won't feel uncomfortable, and things will go smoothly." She even thinks that if she can take control of her sleep, she can take control of her life.

Coincidentally, this is exactly the view that Nick repeatedly emphasizes in his book. He believes that "taking control of sleep is taking control of life."

Based on years of experience, Nick reminds that sleep problems cannot be solved overnight. When sleep is poor, don't always think about how important the quality of that one night's sleep is. You can take a week as a cycle. If you sleep poorly occasionally, you can "make up for it" in the following days.

Nick always believes that the biggest obstacle affecting sleep quality comes from psychology. For many years, people have blindly believed that they need to sleep 8 hours every night. Nick thinks that in fact, human sleep is essentially cyclical, and each complete cycle is about 90 minutes, including the light sleep stage, the deep sleep stage, and the rapid eye movement sleep stage. What we should do is to prioritize ensuring the number of complete sleep cycles every night. For example, even if the ideal total sleep duration cannot be guaranteed, if 4 to 5 complete cycles (6 - 7.5 hours per night) can be maintained, the sleep quality and the mental state during the day can still be greatly improved.

In addition, although it is difficult to change the external environment in the short term, young people can still actively make changes through some practical methods.

First, establish a regular schedule. Try to keep fixed sleep and wake - up times every day, even on weekends, and don't stay in bed too long to maintain the stability of the biological clock.

Second, reduce the use of electronic devices before going to bed to avoid the interference of blue light on the sleep rhythm.

Third, create a good sleep environment. Keep the bedroom quiet, dark, and at a suitable temperature; choosing a comfortable mattress and pillow, using blackout curtains, and avoiding noise interference are all key details to improve sleep quality.

Finally, moderate exercise and mental relaxation are also important. Regular aerobic exercise can help increase the proportion of deep sleep and relieve anxiety. Facing the inevitable overtime and staying up late, instead of blindly worrying about "not getting enough sleep", it's better to scientifically arrange the sleep rhythm to get the best recovery effect in a limited time.

Nick believes that a 20 - minute nap can also effectively make up for the lack of nighttime sleep.

Nowadays, many enterprises have also begun to attach importance to "rechargeable rest". For example, companies like Google and Nike have equipped special rest pods in their office areas, and this trend is also being accepted by some Asian enterprises.

Of course, for young people with sleep problems, perhaps more importantly, is to find a way to reconcile with the rhythm of life.