Insomnia Costs Bosses $63B a Year

A new study has revealed that about 1 in every 4 American workers have insomnia.

The sleeping condition costs an average worker 11.3 days at work, where they arrive but are too tired to perform efficiently, and up to $2,280 in lost productivity, every year.

Insomnia costs national employers up to $63.2 billion a year, according to the American Insomnia Study.

Defined as a sleepless condition for months at a time, insomnia can be caused by alcohol, anxiety, stress, and caffeine. Often insomniacs suffer from increased stress due to lack of sleep, further worsening their condition.

The nationwide survey’s findings are published in this month’s edition of Sleep, an online journal. During the study, researchers looked at 7,400 employed Americans, discovering that nearly 23 percent were insomniacs.

Insomnia affects working women more than working men, with 27 percent of women being categorized as insomniacs, and only 20 percent of men.

Also, insomnia seems to be a bigger problem for younger workers, as only 14 percent of workers over the age of 65 were found to be insomniacs- a much lower number than other age groups in the study.

“We’re shocked by the enormous impact insomnia has on the average person’s life,” said Ronald Kessler, lead author of the study and Harvard Medical School professor.

Kessler, PhD, who teaches health care policy at the university, said in a written statement: “Americans are not missing work because of insomnia; they are still going to their jobs but accomplishing less because they are tired.”

Currently, about 1 in 5 insomniacs receive drug and behavioral treatments, Kessler says.

Many people do not take the condition’s consequences seriously, as it is not considered a real disease, CBS News reported.

“Now that we know how much insomnia costs the American work place, the question for employers is whether the price of intervention is worthwhile,” Kessler said.

The study’s co-author James K. Walsh included that the average cost of treating insomnia is about $200 a year for generic sleeping pills, such as Ambien, and around $1,200 for behavioral therapy.

“Worker screening programs and programs to teach workers good sleep hygiene may be very effective and could actually save employers money,” Kessler told WebMD. “These programs might help people feel a lot better and get more done on the job.”