Today (March 21) is the 22nd World Sleep Day, and the Chinese theme of this World Sleep Day is “Sleep Well, Stay Healthy”. On social media, “Who stole the sleep of young people?” “Over 300 million people in China suffer from sleep disorders” “The important thing is not to get enough sleep for 8 hours, but to get enough sleep cycle” “Playing on mobile phones before bed can increase fatigue ” and other topics on World Sleep Day are on the hot search, indicating that sleep in today’s society has become a universal topic of concern to the whole people.
“Bounce during the day and sleep well at night” is a simple description of a happy life for many people in the past, but it is not so easy to achieve today. According to the “2022 Chinese National Healthy Sleep White Paper” released by the China Sleep Research Association and other institutions, 44% of young people aged 19-25 stay up late until after midnight, and young adults aged 19-35 are the age group with high incidence of sleep problems, and sleep well is gradually become a common pain point for young people. The sleep disorders of young people have even spawned a 100 billion-level sleep aid market: steam eye masks, soundproof earplugs, melatonin gummies, sleep detectors… It has also spawned a new profession-an online “sleep coax” anchor.
Who stole the sleep of young people? Judging from the actual situation, young people staying up late can be roughly divided into two categories: one is passive staying up late, that is, they want to go to bed early, can fall asleep but have to stay up late. The second is to take the initiative to stay up late, that is, to choose to stay up late to sleep on your own. For example, young people stay up late to play games, watch short videos, watch dramas, watch football games, go to bars, etc. These situations are also not uncommon. During the fast-paced working hours of the day, young people have no real self, and their leisure time after get off work is particularly precious. Many young people are immersed in their own world and involuntarily develop the habit of going to bed late or even staying up late.
For a younger group, students, the problem of sleep deprivation is equally serious. According to the aforementioned white paper, the surveyed high school students slept only 6.5 hours on average, junior high school students 7.48 hours on average, and elementary school students 7.65 hours. The “Notice on Further Strengthening the Sleep Management of Primary and Secondary School Students” requires that “the sleep duration of primary school students, middle school students and high school students should reach 10 hours, 9 hours and 8 hours respectively”, there is still a big gap. It is worth noting that the white paper shows that more than 60% of the surveyed teenagers use their sleep time to play mobile phones, play games and watch dramas, and only 27% of the surveyed teenagers compress their sleep time to do homework, which also shows that they use electronic products for leisure and entertainment. More occupation of students’ sleep time.
For whatever reason, it has become an indisputable fact that young people are sleeping later and later. In an increasingly fast-paced modern society, it is a good wish to call on young people to go to bed early, but as long as the basic structure of social operation remains unchanged, it may be difficult for young people to change their living habits. “To stay up the latest night, buy the most expensive eye cream”, this is the survival philosophy of modern urban young people. In fact, experts and scholars have different opinions about the scientific sleep time. Some believe that at least 8 hours of sleep should be maintained, while others say that sleep quality is more important. Maintain a healthy routine as much as possible, change bad study, living and work habits, and at the same time accept the unchangeable routine, so as to embrace high-quality sleep.
Rather than fall into insomnia anxiety, it is better to accept the present state calmly. Compared with this generation of young people who go to bed late and stay up late, the anxiety, depression, depression, irritability and even extreme tendencies that are caused by sleep disorders are more worthy of vigilance. After a long night, if you can’t sleep, you might as well listen to a nostalgic old song, flip through a volume of literary classics, and wait for the sleepiness to come naturally; if you want to work overtime to study, make yourself a cup of coffee, make a pot of tea, and do the work at hand well. Not falling into useless emotional consumption will also help you fall asleep safely.
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