Binging shows screws up your sleep

Survey reveals adults lose sleep to binge-watching

According to a new survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), U.S. adults rank sleep as their second most important priority, following family. However, data shows that Americans are often limiting their opportunities to get enough healthy sleep.

A primary culprit of sleep restriction? Binge-watching. In the AASM survey, a whopping 88 percent of U.S. adults admitted they had lost sleep due to staying up late to watch multiple episodes of a TV show or streaming series — and this number jumps to 95 percent when looking at 18-44-year olds. Americans have also postponed their bedtime to read, play video games, and watch sports.

“Americans rank sleep as one of their highest priorities, but choosing to binge on entertainment at night instead of sleeping has serious ramifications,” said AASM President Dr. Kelly A. Carden.

America has a binging problem

Streaming

Eighty-eight percent of American adults — and 95 percent of 18-44-year-olds — have lost sleep because they stayed up to watch multiple episodes of a TV show. While those 45 and older were the least likely to lose sleep from binge-watching, 80 percent have done so.

Video games

Young adults aged 18 to 34 (72 percent) were more likely than those 35 and older (38 percent) to have stayed up to play video games. Men (59 percent) were more likely to postpone sleep for gaming than women (42 percent).

Reading

Women (71 percent) make up a majority of night-readers; they were more likely than men (61 percent) to have lost sleep staying up with a book. Overall, two-thirds of U.S. adults have lost sleep due to reading.

Watching sports

While almost 60 percent of all U.S. adults have stayed up past their bedtime to watch sports, men were more likely to do so. Seventy-five percent of men admit they lost sleep due to watching sporting events on TV, compared with only 45 percent of women.

Binging can lead to guilt, frustration, worry — and even less sleep

Nearly a quarter of respondents (24 percent) admitted feeling frustrated by missed bedtimes. These feelings are more likely in younger Americans, with those in Generation Z admitting that staying up past their bedtime causes them to feel frustrated (32 percent), worried (23 percent) and guilty (19 percent).

These feelings can compound the insufficient sleep problem, as negative thoughts about missing sleep might make it harder to fall asleep. Binging shows screws up sleep Survey reveals adults lose sleep to binge-watching A