In our modern meritocracy, qualities such as “mobility” and “flexibility” are increasingly required. Without regard to our natural need for sleep and rest, we are adapting our lifestyles more and more to technology. Production and service processes must be maintained around the clock in order to utilize expensive machines and make everyday necessities available constantly and everywhere.
The human gets tired, the machine doesn’t
Despite all the mechanization, humans usually play an important, controlling role. “What is often disregarded is that machines function non-stop, while humans have biological limits: He gets tired, the machine doesn’t,” said Prof. Dr. Jürgen Zulley, head of the Sleep Medicine Center at the University of Regensburg.
“Microsleep” – high number of unreported cases
If the natural need for sleep and rest is ignored, the consequences are often serious. Especially when overtired people operate machines or sit at the wheel of motor vehicles. Almost every driver is familiar with the problem of “microsleep.” Nevertheless, this phenomenon is difficult to record in the statistics, because “who likes to admit that they caused an accident because they fell asleep at the wheel,” says Johannes Th. Hübner, Automobilclub von Deutschland e.V. (AvD), “The common explanation then is often human error.”
Experts assume that fatigue causes a total of 15-20% of all accidents in the transport sector. It is thus the most common demonstrable cause of accidents and exceeds the number of accidents triggered by alcohol and drugs. The economic damage of fatigue-related accidents is high, estimated at 10 billion euros per year in Germany.
Healthy sleep is vital
However, the consequences of irregular sleep times, shortened sleep duration and non-restorative sleep are not only reflected in accident and damage statistics. Good sleep is a central and extremely underestimated basic human need and essential for maintaining full performance, concentration and reaction capabilities. Due to the mobile 24-hour society, our natural sleep behavior is severely disturbed. Those who sleep poorly not only reduce their well-being and quality of life during the day.
Chronic sleep disorders can have fatal long-term consequences and lead to high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stroke, gastrointestinal diseases, cancer and psychiatric disorders such as depression. Sleep apnea (cessation of breathing during sleep) should be mentioned as an important sleep disorder in this context.
Sleep disorders need better care
Recent studies suggest that 10% of the population in the Federal Republic alone suffers from sleep disorders that require treatment. Yet sleep disorders are commonly regarded as a trivial matter and often go unmentioned during a doctor’s visit. Only one third of those who suffer from sleep disorders requiring treatment (6% of the population) talk to a doctor about it. Nevertheless, the expenditure in the statutory health insurance for these remedies is considerable.
The problem: sleeping pills are often taken uncritically over a long period of time, while the actual cause is not investigated sufficiently. A fundamentally new approach to dealing with sleep and performance is to focus on the actual criteria for restful sleep. “Sleep quality and timing are the hallmarks of restful sleep. Less so the duration of sleep, which is often the focus of public attention,” Prof. Dr. Zulley said.
