Veterans Often Sleep Poorly, Don't Seek Treatment

Survey: Veterans Often Sleep Poorly, Don't Seek Treatment
Forbes
Rebecca Ruiz
August 1, 2013

Many veterans are “severely sleep-deprived” and are often kept awake by persistent thoughts and pain, according to a survey released Thursday.

Conducted by the firm VetAdvisor and a sleep expert at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the online survey questioned more than 2,800 veterans from each branch of the military, though it was a not a nationally representative sample.

Survey respondents slept an average of 5.6 hours; by comparison, the general population typically sleeps 6.7 hours. Though surviving sleep deprivation may have once been a point of pride for these veterans, it now leaves the majority of them feeling tired, fatigued or sleepy during the day.

Seventy percent had trouble falling or staying asleep while three-quarters reported experiencing the clinical criteria for insomnia. Enlisted soldiers reported higher rates of insomnia than officers, and combat veterans were more likely to experience nightmares and sleep-disrupting vigilance than those who hadn’t “engaged the enemy.”
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