Election Fears Are Compromising the Sleep Health of Americans

THURSDAY, Oct. 31, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- About 17 percent of all U.S. adults -- a striking 45 million Americans -- say the election has negatively impacted their sleep, according to a survey by the National Sleep Foundation.

The survey included 1,364 adults polled across the nation two months before election day. The negative impact on sleep of the 2024 presidential election cut across all groups, including political party affiliation, results showed.

"The dynamics of stressful societal events like elections and election day can adversely affect the public's mood, and in turn sleep health, which is critical for health and well-being," Joseph Dzierzewski, senior vice president for research and scientific affairs at the National Sleep Foundation, said in a foundation news release. "This reinforces the importance of addressing sleep health during periods of high stress."

Anxiety and sleeplessness can feed on each other, sleep experts say. People who are anxious get poorer sleep, and people who do not sleep well are more prone to anxiety.

People affected by the election are getting about seven hours of sleep on the weekend, nearly a half hour less than those who say their sleep has not been disturbed by politics, results showed.

On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being excellent and 5 being poor), those worried about the election had an average sleep quality of about 3.36 compared with 2.05 for those not affected by politics. About 18 percent of Democrats say they have lost sleep over the election compared with 17 percent of Republicans and 16 percent of independents.

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