But 31 percent get six hours or less, and that's not enough for anybody, Walsh said. Teenagers, especially, need eight or more hours sleep. Some schools now open later to give students more time to sleep. Businesses are beginning to recognize sleepiness as a problem. The Albuquerque police department reports that since cutting back on long hours and double shifts, complaints and lawsuits have dropped.
Doctors treat the problem only about half the time patients report it.
Medical schools are notorious for forcing interns to go without sleep. The Sleep Foundation's survey coincides with the return to daylight savings time, when millions of people lose an hour' sleep. Caring for children or invalids costs many people sleep. There's also insomnia and interrupted breathing, or sleep apnea. Lost sleep has to be made up, said sleep research pioneer William Dement of Stanford University.