Worries over too few $$$ become a top ZZZ depriver

You may have noticed there’s a lot of stress floating about the country these days, little of which you can do anything about.

However, that doesn’t keep a whopping majority of us from losing sleep over these perceived worries. According to a new study, more than two-thirds of us (69 percent) lose sleep worrying about stuff, a larger percentage in certain age groups. You know who you are. i.e. millennials, three-quarters of whom lose sleep over worries (77 percent).

Advertisement

The research for Bankrate by GfK Custom Research interviewed 1,000 Americans and found the top three worrisome sleep-disrupting topics were relationships (41 percent), money (36 percent) and work (30 percent).

No. 4 wide-awake worry was health (28 percent), especially among older Americans. I said, ESPECIALLY AMONG OLDER AMERICANS.

This might surprise if you keep up with today’s turbulent  news cycles, but politics — you know, President Trump, the elections, media and fake news — that barely registered half the worries (14 percent) that health does.

Fully half of millennials lose sleep over relationships, personal or family, while baby boomers (only 36 percent) and Gen Xers (42 percent) say that.

Millennials seem really messed up. They also scored highest (39 percent) stressing out over work, compared to Gen Xers (37 percent) and baby boomers (22 percent).

For those baby boomers age 54 to 63, $$$$ is the biggest sleep-depriving concern because, credit cards, college, aging parents and looming retirement financial needs.

“The baby boomers,” says Jennifer Ailshire, who’s researched poor sleep and relationships at the University of Southern California, “especially the younger ones are at this really critical period where they need to be saving for retirement. But a lot of people came through the recession and their financial situation is worse because of it.”

Advertisement

Experts suggested seeking professional financial guidance and giving yoga and meditation a try. That doesn’t boost the bank account, but it changes the mental subject before going to bed. Personally, I find that watching those late-night shows where people try so hard to be funny and engaging is a powerful sedative.

Brad Klontz over at the Financial Psychology Institute suggests dumping your sleep disturbing worries onto paper in a daily or occasional journal. The simple act of writing things down tends to relief the mental pressure of worries.

Of course, staying up late writing down all your worries would also keep you from falling asleep.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
David Strom 5:20 PM | April 15, 2024
Advertisement