FOR MANY, LACK OF SLEEP CAUSED BY WORK STRESS.

Byline: Angela La Voie Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

The pressures of the modern workplace and stress-ridden lifestyles are keeping Americans up at night and interfering with their waking lives, new research shows.

Nearly half of U.S. workers say they have trouble sleeping, two-thirds of whom link insomnia with job-related stress as well as difficulty making decisions and solving problems, according to a new national survey released Thursday by the National Sleep Foundation in Washington, D.C.

The telephone survey of 402 people who had experienced sleeplessness in the past three months found that sleeping problems are taking a toll on the U.S. economy as well as on personal health.

The total annual cost of insomnia to U.S. businesses, including absenteeism, accidents, hospitalization, medical costs and decreased productivity, is as high as $107.5 billion, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

The price tag of lost productivity alone is roughly $18 billion a year, according to projections derived from the findings by Louis Harris & Associates, which conducted the survey.

``Clearly, the high-pressure business environment of the 1990s, with its downsized work force and increased competition, is having a profound impact on the American workplace,'' Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, said in a statement.

``We need to address this epidemic of sleeplessness,'' he said.

Sleep specialists and primary-care physicians agreed.

Research shows an increasing trend of insomnia, noted Jim Walsh, director of the St. Luke's Sleep Medicine and Research Center in Chesterfield, Mo.

Studies from the 1960s and '70s showed that roughly 30 percent of Americans reported occasional sleep problems, Walsh said. And evidence from diaries and other records shows that American adolescents and adults get about an hour to an hour and a half less sleep now than in the 1920s, he said.

What's keeping Americans up at night? Four in 10 workers in the new survey said their sleeplessness resulted from job-related mental or physical stress, according to the results, which were announced Thursday at a news conference in Washington, D.C.

The survey also found that 42 percent of respondents who reported difficulty sleeping also reported nighttime pain such as headache, backache and muscle aches. However, only 6 percent of those who reported sleep problems identified pain as the chief source of their insomnia.

``What is extremely important (about the survey) is that this whole area of disturbed sleep, pain and fatigue has been largely ignored,'' said Dr. Harvey Moldolfsky, director of the center for sleep and chronobiology at the University of Toronto.

Complaints of insomnia and work-related stress may be masking other problems such as depression, arthritis or side effects of medication, said Dr. Carolyn Lopez, chief of family practice at Cook County Hospital in Chicago.

Good ``sleep hygiene'' and relaxation techniques often can help people overcome sleep difficulties, she said.

Insomniacs should perform relaxation exercises during the work day, as well as right before bed, Lopez said. One way to relax is to breathe deeply, concentrating on keeping breathing slow and controlled, she said.

``Think of a quiet, peaceful, relaxing place and just think about being there,'' Lopez recommended.

To help get a good night's rest, the National Sleep Foundation recommends avoiding the following:

Alcohol, caffeine, nicotine and decongestants.

Going to bed or waking up at different times each day.

Exercising within three hours before going to bed.

Reading or watching television in bed.

Taking excessive naps during the day.

Eating heavy meals just before bedtime.

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