Work & Insomnia: Sleepless Off the Job

A new study from Japan shows that insomnia may be linked to your job.

The study involved 1,022 workers; they had an average age of 39 years. They were evaluated across two years.

Results show that some workers were more likely to have insomnia for the length of the study. Employees with low social support at work were twice as likely to have persistent insomnia. Those who had an “effort-reward imbalance” also were more than two times as likely to have ongoing insomnia.

The study also found that some workers were more likely to develop insomnia by the end of the study. The risk of having a new case of insomnia was 75 percent higher in people who were overcommitted to work. Good sleepers were 72 percent more likely to develop insomnia if they had high job strain.

In September the Sleep Education Blog reported that people with a low-strain job had the highest sleep quality; exposure to a high-strain work environment was associated with elevated levels of sleep complaints.

In April the Sleep Education Blog reported that female executives may be more prone to sleep problems than male executives. The risk is greatest for women who have isolated, demanding jobs.

How can you prevent job stress from disturbing your sleep? One way is to avoid “bedwork.” Never bring any work to bed with you; instead you should make your bed a refuge from your job.

Get other helpful tips and learn more about job stress and sleep at SleepEducation.com.