If you're not getting enough sleep and find yourself waking up tired on a daily basis, you're not alone. More than one-third of U.S. adults average less than 7 hours of sleep per night, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
That lack of sleep is causing problems during the daytime, CDC surveys found. In one survey, 38% of people said they'd unintentionally dozed off during the day at least once in the previous month. Even more alarming, 5% said they'd nodded off or had actually fallen asleep while driving.
"If you don't get enough sleep, it definitely impacts your functioning, your memory, response time. It definitely impacts your driving," says Lela McKnight-Eily, PhD, one of the authors of the report and an epidemiologist and clinical psychologist with the CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Heath Promotion.
