1. 'Homicidal somnambulism’ is when a murder is committed while sleepwalking. It has been used as a successful defense in a number of cases.
This has to be one of the most shocking sleep facts when you consider that there are over 70 documented cases!
2. Some people report experiencing ‘precognitive dreams’ which include knowledge of the future.
3. Four in every 10 people may experience sleep paralysis at some time, which is a feeling of being awake but unable to move.
The average age for this frightening condition first to occur is between 14 and 17 years old.[1]
75% of incidents of sleep paralysis involve hallucinations that are different from typical dreams.[2]
4. Exploding head syndrome (EHS) is a sleep disorder where you hear an explosive crashing sound in your head that isn’t real.
5. Some people suffer from a sleep-related eating disorder, where they prepare and eat food while sleeping. They have little or no memory of doing so in the morning.
6. Though essential for our health, scientists don’t actually know for sure why we sleep.
They’re all agreed on one thing though, we need sleep!
Banish the dark circles and learn just how much we need our slumber by reading our facts about the importance of sleep.
7. Each child in a mother’s household increases her risk of getting insufficient sleep by 46%.
A completely terrifying thought, but understandable fact for the moms out there!
8. When suffering from depression you dream up to 3 to 4 times more than you normally would.
9. 22 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea, when your breathing stops and starts as you sleep, is a common sleep disturbance.
Men are twice as likely to suffer from the condition as women.[3]
10. Experts predict 80% of those with sleep apnea are undiagnosed.
That’s because symptoms of the condition are not always visibly problematic, so many people tend to ignore them.
However if left untreated it can lead to a number of health problems including heart failure, diabetes and hypertension.
It’s illegal to lie down and fall asleep wearing your shoes in North Dakota.[4]
11. 38,000 people in the US die each year from heart disease with sleep apnea as a complicating factor.
12. Violent dreams can be the sign of a brain disorder including dementia.
13. Women are found to have more nightmares than men and also have more emotional dreams.
14. Think you’re sleep deprived? The record for the longest period without sleep is 11 days.
There is currently no record for the person sleeping for the longest length of time, as it’s too difficult to prove.
Also there are a number of conditions that can cause people to sleep for long lengths of time such as when people are in a coma and Kleine-Levin Syndrome, so it would be hard to determine.
15. In a recent study, 50% of UK pilots surveyed admitted to having fallen asleep while flying a passenger plane.
Knowing that is enough to give you nightmares!
Scarier still, 29% of those surveyed said they’d woken up to find the other pilot asleep as well.
16. There are more car accidents on the Monday after the spring DST clock change, due to sleep deprivation.
Want to learn more about the nation’s slumber?
We’ve looked at the recommended sleep durations and compiled an article filled with 2023 sleep statistics.
References
- American Academy of Sleep Medicine (2020). Sleep Paralysis [Online]. Available from: https://sleepeducation.org/sleep-disorders/sleep-paralysis/ [Accessed 16 August 2023]. ↩
- Suni, E. & Dimitriu, A. (2020). What You Should Know about Sleep Paralysis [Online]. Sleep Foundation . Available from: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/parasomnias/sleep-paralysis [Accessed 16 August 2023]. ↩
- Sleep Cycle Center (2023). Why Women are Less Often Diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnea [Online]. Available from: https://www.sleepcyclecenters.com/blog/why-women-are-less-often-diagnosed-with-obstructive-sleep-apnea/ [Accessed 16 August 2023]. ↩
- Young, J. (2022). These 8 Crazy Laws In North Dakota Will Leave You Scratching Your Head In Wonder [Online]. Only In Your State. Available from: https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/north-dakota/crazy-laws-in-north-dakota/ [Accessed 16 August 2023]. ↩
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