Sleepy Americans Risking Health, Safety Nightmares

Americans are becoming menaces to themselves because they don’t sleep enough. They sleep in class, at work and behind the wheel. The first can get you bad grades; the other two can get you killed.

“A substantial number of Americans, perhaps the majority, are functionally handicapped by sleep deprivation on any given day,” said a report by the National Commission on Sleep Disorders Research.

The report, discussed at a news conference Wednesday, estimated the direct costs of sleep disorders at $15.9 billion and the indirect costs at $150 billion in 1990.

The commission held eight public hearings, where hundreds of people complained about sleep problems: snoring, bad dreams, insomnia, narcolepsy.

One person said he used to fall asleep in meetings, only to snap awake and say something embarrassing. So he started carrying a big pin or a small knife to jab himself and stay awake.

The man, who was not named, said people started thinking he was crazy. He lost three jobs in 18 months. He sought medical help and, after a night on a ventilator, “awoke refreshed.”

While some sleepiness results from medical problems, some is self-induced, the report said.

“Today, cultural and economic forces combine to create a 24-hour society in which millions of Americans--either chronically or intermittently--obtain insufficient sleep as a result of workplace and lifestyle determinants,” said the report, which was issued in September. “A convincing body of scientific evidence and witness testimony indicates that many Americans are severely sleep-deprived and therefore dangerously sleepy during the day.”