The National Sleep Survey - Initial Results

January 10th, 15:30PM

Since Christmas we've been running an online survey on the Shattered website. We've had nearly 2,000 responses so far, making it one of the biggest sleep surveys in the world.

The survey was partially written by Neil Stanley, Shattered production and Channel 4 surveys department. Many of the questions were standard sleep survey posers, designed to discover the nation's sleeping patterns.

The survey is still running and if you want to have your say you can still fill it in on the website. We've done some initial analysis – here are some of our preliminary findings…

Who Responded?
72% of the people who responded overall were women. 52% of respondents were in employment, 40% were at school or college. Most of those who answered were under the age of 23 (60%), followed by those aged between 24 and 33 (30%).

How Much Sleep Do We Get?
According to the survey, the average amount of sleep the nation gets each night is six hours and 39 minutes. Shattered Sleep Expert Neil Stanley says this is 45 minutes less than previous research has shown. However, he also comments the demographics of the Shattered respondents may be the reason. The bulk of our respondents were younger than previous surveys, plus they are watching a show about sleep deprivation – maybe they've been up all night watching the show and haven't had the normal amount of sleep!

Neil says there is "no standard" recommendation for the amount of sleep we should get. "Anything between three and eleven hours per day is fine," he says.

Sleep, says Neil, is all about "growth, learning, repair and laying down memories." Children need more sleep as they are growing, teens need more as they are learning, older people need less as they have already grown, already learnt, and the body is gradually failing to repair itself (the ageing process). Basically, Neil says, how many hours you sleep per day is up to you. As long as your sleeping patterns leave you "feeling awake and healthy" you're doing something right.

One third of respondents like to have a snooze during the day to catch up on our shut-eye. Neil says this is a great idea and he's really enthusiastic about the Mediterranean-style siesta. He says, "Siestas are brilliant, exactly what your body needs. We increasingly need sleep in the afternoon." So, maybe we should all get our bosses/teachers to allow us that afternoon nap!

25% of survey respondents said they don't hit the sack until after midnight. More than 50% of those who replied said they rarely or never wake up feeling fully rested and refreshed.

Maybe it's time we all analysed our sleep patterns and made sure we got more precious shuteye?

The Mechanics Of Sleeping
It seems we're all kids at heart. 22% of us sleep with a teddy bear snuggled next to us! Other bed partners include mobile phone, TV remote controls, homework, some, ahem, 'adult' toys and a few one night stands…

35% of us like to sleep as nature intended – in the nude, with 45% of us covering up in comfy pyjamas. Only 7% of respondents wore a nightie to bed, and, rather worryingly, 5% of those were men!

Beds aren't the only place we've fallen asleep either. According to the survey, some of the strangest places we've had a kip include the boss' office, public toilets, in a hedge, and queuing for tickets at Wimbledon.

Dream A Little Dream
A remarkable 79% of respondents admitted to remembering their dreams. Neil's not surprised by this result. He says most of us will remember dreams, especially if we wake during a dream (REM sleep). According to Neil we have around five dreams a night. Most of us will just remember the last dream we had (usually just before we wake up, when we're in Stage Two sleep and have a 50/50 chance of waking during a dream).

Basically, Neil says, we cannot dream about something we don't already know. I.e., you're unlikely to have a dream about the basic theories of astro-physics if we haven't got that information in our brains already. However, we may have a dream about being an astro-physicist, as most of us know that they exist.

When it comes to sexy dreams, most of us dream about our partners (ahh), as they're the most prominent people in our minds. 4% will have a sexy dream about a celebrity, Orlando Bloom being the most likely dreamboat to appear, followed by Dermot O'Leary and a character from EastEnders.

Having a sexy dream about your boss, or your mum, is nothing to worry about. It simply means the knowledge of that person is lurking in our brains, and has been sifted into our dreams.

But what about nightmares? When it comes to nasty dreams we're most likely to get frightened by visions of zombies, demons, death and former teachers. Also appearing in our bad dreams are Saddam Hussein, spiders, Dobermans and Sir Ian McKellan.

Overall, Neil says we shouldn't be scared of our dreams, nor analyse them too intricately, "enjoy them," he says.

The survey hasn't closed yet, so you still have a chance to tell us about your sleeping patterns. Complete results will be analysed by Neil Stanley, Shattered expert and Chairman of the British Sleep Council. The survey will become part of his ongoing research into sleeping habits.