World Sleep Day is an annual event, intended to be a celebration of sleep and a call to action on important issues related to sleep, including medicine, education, social aspects, and driving. It is organized by the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Sleep Society and aims to lessen the burden of sleep problems on society through better prevention and management of sleep disorders.
World Sleep Day is held the Friday before Spring Vernal Equinox of each year. Future dates will be Friday, March 18, 2022.
How can we have regular sleep? We need to remember the two processes that regulate both the timing and length of sleep: Circadian regulation (process C) and homeostatic control (process S) also known as the two-process model of sleep.
Although many other factors affect sleep, such as environment, stress, and medications; understanding these two processes will help us strive towards a consistent sleep schedule. Process C refers to our internal clock, regulated by a part of our brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus.
This clock regulates and controls the 24-hour sleep-wake cycle via the influence of light and melatonin. In the absence of light (as during the evening hours), melatonin is produced promoting sleep but in the presence of light, the production of melatonin ceases, signaling our brain that is daytime and we need to wake up.
Our behavior can override these natural signals. For instance, bright lights at night shut down the production of melatonin, delaying sleep until late hours of the night.
-
Co-Chair Dr. Fang Han
Process S promotes sleep based on the previous amount of time that we spent awake. During wakefulness, our brain accumulates substances that promote sleep, when we sleep these substances are cleared up and we feel alert again. This process is particularly important when we take naps in the afternoon because we deplete the sleep-promoting substances and we are not able to fall asleep at a reasonable time in the evening.
The best sleep is when we synchronize our sleep/wake times to our internal clock and our sleep propensity finding the perfect equilibrium between process C and process S.
It is important to remember that sleep is involved with many physiologic systems such as memory consolidation, control of inflammation, hormone regulation, cardiovascular regulation, and many other important functions, therefore insufficient sleep duration and poor sleep quality will be associated with several significant adverse health outcomes.
Reduced sleep duration has been shown to cause impairments in cognitive and executive function, while poor sleep has been associated with poor mental health
-
Who created World Sleep Day?
The annual awareness event was started by a group of dedicated healthcare providers and members of the medical community working and studying in the area of sleep medicine and research. The goal of the first World Sleep Day was to bring together sleep healthcare providers to discuss and distribute sleep information around the world.
The first co-chairs of World Sleep Day were Liborio Parrino, MD, Associate Professor of Neurology at Parma University, Italy, and Antonio Culebras, MD, Professor of Neurology, Upstate Medical University, and Consultant, The Sleep Center, Community General Hospital, Syracuse, New York, USA.
-
Why was World Sleep Day created?
Time and time again, sleep medicine professionals and researchers came up against the belief that sleep was not important enough in personal health and well-being to be a priority. That coupled with society’s 24/7 flow, the founders of this awareness event aim to celebrate the importance of healthy sleep.
-
Who supports World Sleep Day?
World Sleep Day is hosted by World Sleep Society (WSS), a nonprofit based in the United States. Per the organizational bylaws, World Sleep Society does not support, recommend or endorse any products or services. The awareness event does accept corporate sponsorships to help support the cost to host the event, but the World Sleep Society, the World Sleep Day Committee, or any person affiliated with WSS does not endorse or recommend commercial products, treatments, or companies.
-
What happens to funds raised by World Sleep Day?
The events and activities of World Sleep Day are free and open to the public. Companies that sponsor World Sleep Day provide funds to the World Sleep Society to reimburse the costs of the awareness day, including costs of press releases, website hosting, and creation of educational content.
Each year only a fraction of World Sleep Day’s cost is recouped through corporate sponsorships. Read more in our Frequently Asked Questions section about local/regional sponsors and local funds raised.
