What Were The UK's Sleep Problems In 2021

Now that the holidays are over and we welcome in 2022, everyone is readjusting their sleep schedule back to normal. However, throughout the UK there were many factors that were affecting people’s sleep. Join us as TEMPUR® takes us back through 2021 and looks at the UK public’s top sleep problems.

The UK’s Top Sleep Problems

There are many specific sleep search queries that people looked for during 2021. Here at TEMPUR® we will reveal what they are, what could be the potential causes and how can you overcome them?

How To Fall Asleep At Night

One of the most commonly searched terms during 2021 was “How to fall asleep at night” with 90,000 people in the UK alone looking for advice on how to fall asleep quickly.

Sleep Depravation

One of the other most searched terms throughout 2021 was “Sleep deprivation”, with over 12,000 searches. As adults we require 7+ hours of sleep a day and a lack of sleep can cause a range of issues when we are awake. This can include fatigue, mood changes and a difficulty of focus.

Sleep depravation can be caused by a range of issues, this can include:

Insomnia

With over 80,000 search queries, many people throughout the UK had a much more difficult time getting to sleep in 2021. But why is this? One of the biggest contributing factors of insomnia is stress and living through a pandemic is likely to cause more and more people to be feeling the effects of stress. But how can we overcome this?

One of the main ways to overcome insomnia is to help set a pattern when going to sleep. Make sure that you are going to sleep at the same time each night and that you are waking up at the same time each morning. While making sure that you are going to bed at the same time is easy, it’s waking up that is the challenge. We recommend setting an alarm for the morning to help ensure that you’re waking up at the same time.

Another recommendation is to cut down on caffeine, especially in the evenings. This is because caffeine is a stimulant which will keep your mind racing, making it harder for you to fall asleep. We recommend not drinking any caffeinated beverage after 4pm; this will give your mind enough time to get sleep.

We also recommend ASMR. This is because it can trigger chemicals in your brain that will help you relax. These natural chemicals include Endorphins, which can help reduce stress; Serotonin, which can aid with relaxation while also helping induce sleep; and Oxytocin, commonly referred to as a “happy hormone” due to the chemical being able to promote feelings of love and wellbeing

Sleep Apnoea 

With over 90,500 search queries, thousands of people believe that they or a loved one has sleep apnoea. But what causes it? Most people who have sleep apnoea have Obstructive Sleep Apnoea. This happens when there is a physical blockage in the upper airway. Another type, Central Sleep Apnoea, this is due to a signalling problem in the nervous system.

When the airway closes, or the signal is held up, the person will stop breathing. This will happen temporarily but repeatedly during sleep. When they breathe again, they may snort, take a deep breath, or awaken completely with a feeling of gasping or choking.

Methods to treat sleep apnoea do depend on the severity of the symptoms. If the person has Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, they can attempt to make lifestyle changes that can help make modifications to help normalise the person’s breathing while they are sleeping. This can include quitting smoking and following a heart-friendly diet. However, if the person has Central Sleep Apnoea, they will need to see medical attention as they may need to have surgery or use a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machine while they sleep.

Poor Mattresses

A mattress is one of the most important parts of the bed and a good quality mattress goes a long way in helping to ensure that you can get a good night's rest. If you feel like your mattress has been the culprit of your lack of sleep this past year, we here at TEMPUR® recommend that you try out one of our mattresses.

Have you experienced a lack of sleep during 2021? Are there any examples that we missed? Why not share below…