PremiumThere’s a 57% increase in Indians staying up late doomscrolling, Wakefit.co’s Great Indian Sleep Scorecard (GISS) 2022 has revealed. The findings of the survey also indicated that 59% of India’s population goes to sleep post 11 pm.
Doomscrolling is the act of spending an excessive amount of screen time devoted to the absorption of negative news.
Wakefit.co, which is a research and innovation-driven home and sleep solutions company, said that the use of electronic devices at night and stressful work culture have also impacted sleep patterns.
More than 30,000 responses were recorded for the 5th edition of the Great Indian Sleep Scorecard recorded from March 2021 to February 2022.
The report detailed that 59% of India goes to bed past the ideal bedtime of 11 pm, and social media browsing is the major factor keeping the late-night owls up, with 36% of respondents blaming digital devices for their sleeplessness.
Further, an alarming 88% of people use their phone just before bedtime and while this number has come down from last year (92%), it is still a gigantic indicator of addiction to digital devices.
However, awareness seems to be on the rise. “People have started adapting to some aspects of a new lifestyle caused by the covid-19 pandemic. Around 74% of people claimed to have a dedicated sleep space in their homes. This number was significantly higher among people below 18 years of age with 80% of people sharing this habit. Moreover, 65% of the respondents make their bed immediately after waking up, indicating a closer affinity to their bed spaces," the report said.
The report also revealed that 50% of 18 to 24-year-olds claimed that their bedroom environment has been affecting their sleep health, while 40% of the same group did not have a dedicated sleep space for themselves.
However, the senior citizen group seemed to care the least about dedicated sleep spaces with only 18% of them claiming that their sleep is impacted by their bedroom environment. Despite a dedicated sleeping space, 80% of people below 18 years of age did not feel refreshed after waking up.
According to the data, one in four Indians think they have insomnia. Moreover, there has been an increase in late-night social media browsing which has increased by 57% this year as compared to pre-pandemic years.
The fear of insomnia seems to be higher in women at 31% as compared to men at 23%. About 38% of women and 31% of men feel browsing social media keeps them awake till late at night. Additionally, 50% of people below 18 years of age feel they have insomnia. Out of this group, 44% believe that a better mattress would help improve their sleep.
The survey also showed that the hybrid working model has made a positive impact on individuals.
The percentage of people feeling sleepy during work hours has decreased from 83% in 2020 (pre-pandemic period) to 48% in 2022.
“The hybrid working model seems to have made a positive impact on individuals due to its flexibility to take naps at regular intervals. People seem to have thrived in this kind of work environment, balancing office and home. The report shows a marginal decrease of 5% in people staying up late due to work since last year. Although marginal, there seems to be a positive impact of the hybrid workplace on late night workaholics," the report said.
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