Study claims February is the worst month for sleep

A study from the UK shows that it takes longer for us to fall asleep in February than in other months, and we are up for longer during the night.

If you're feeling particularly sleepy this month, you are not alone.

But sadly, going to bed early may not be the solution.

A number of factors combine to make February a post-New Year 'sleep dip', experts claim. But by next month things will improve, they say.

It takes an extra eight minutes on average to get to sleep this month compared with March, and we spend an extra 10 minutes awake during the night.

As a result one-third more people report low energy levels, with women coming off worse than men.

Findings from The Great British Sleep Survey of over 21,000 UK adults show that February will be the worst month for sleep until the start of next winter.

Dark days, long nights and centrally heated homes all conspire to reduce both the amount and quality of sleep at this time of year, it is claimed.

The survey was sponsored by Sleepio, an online sleep improvement programme which uses cognitive behavioural techniques.

Professor Colin Espie, sleep expert and co-founder of Sleepio, said ‘These results demonstrate the difficulty many people experience with sleep during the shorter, darker days typical of this time of the year.

‘With Spring coming up, we’re at the tail end of a bad spell for sleep but the improvement in light levels in March will also bring better sleep.’ One in three Britons is believed to suffer insomnia, with numbers increasing among older people.

The survey findings are based on questionnaire results from last winter about people’s sleep patterns and scores out of 10 for sleep quality.

The results show Britons spend an average of 8 minutes longer trying to get to sleep this month, with a further 10 minutes awake during the night than in March.'

The average time taken to get to sleep was 56 minutes and time awake at night 59 minutes for those completing the survey in February, versus 48 and 49 minutes respectively in March.

Almost a third more people say they suffer from low energy levels in February than in March.

Of those who completed the survey during the month of February, 68 per cent complained of low energy, compared to 39 per cent who completed the survey in March.

Women are particularly affected, as their sleep quality is seven per cent worse in February than the average for the rest of the year. Men experience a five per cent fall in sleep quality.

However, in March the survey predicts a 14 per cent increase sleep quality, based on in the nation’s average Sleep Score, and a 26 per cent fall in those who felt frustrated due to their sleep.

The average Sleep Score of those completing the survey in the month of February was 4.8, compared to an average of 5.5 for those completing it in the month of March, an increase of 14 per cent.

The figures for February are worse than January. The average Sleep Score for January is 4.9, which dips to 4.8 in February.

People are awake for two minutes more during the night in February than January (59 minutes versus 57 minutes) and it takes them an extra minute to get to sleep. So February is the ‘low water mark’ before our sleep starts to improve again towards the Summer.

Of those who completed the survey during the month of February, 26 per cent reported feeling negative and 32 per cent felt frustrated due to their sleep, compared to those who completed the survey in March, only 10 per cent of whom reported feeling negative and 8 per cent frustrated.

Prof Espie said ‘The body clock is highly regulated by ambient light, the light coming from outside, which provides the alerting signal for an even keel of wakefulness during the day.

‘Those signals are not so distinct in winter and drowsiness is promoted by stuffy centrally heated homes, buildings with low levels of light and lack of fresh air, which has an adverse effect on the quality of sleep at night.

‘It is unsurprising that women are affected slightly more than men - this reflects the general higher prevalence of sleep problems amongst the female population.

‘With poor quality of sleep affecting all aspects of our lives - from relationships to energy and productivity at work - the potential impact of this shouldn’t be underestimated’ he added.

Launched by Sleepio.com in March 2010, the Great British Sleep Survey is an ongoing assessment of how Britons are sleeping, Research shows the £49.99 programme can help three-quarters of even long-term poor sleepers retrain their mind and body to achieve healthy sleep in six weeks without the need for sleeping pills.

Anyone can take part in the survey by visiting www.GreatBritishSleepSurvey.com. The questionnaire takes just 5-10 minutes to fill in and everyone who completes it gets a free personal sleep report tailored to their specific problems.

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