Do you have an undiagnosed sleep disorder? Warning that 14 million Britons are unknowingly living with a condition that could be dangerous and cost the NHS billions

More than 14 million Brits are living with an undiagnosed sleep disorder that could be damaging their health, a report has warned.

A lack of sleep can contribute to physical and mental health problems and hinder productivity at work, costing the economy and the NHS billions of pounds, it adds.

The Sleep Charity’s Dreaming of Change report says society has ‘normalised sleep problems’, preventing 69 per cent of those affected from ever seeking support, despite suffering for an average of six years.

It blames workplace stress and ‘sleep poverty’, such as poor quality beds and noisy neighbours, for contributing to a lack of sleep.

The charity said it wants the Government to publish a ‘much-needed’ National Sleep Strategy to raise awareness of the ‘crisis’ as it highlights new research showing a postcode lottery in the availability of recommended treatments for sleep disorders.

This is made worse by some GPs’ lack of knowledge of what is available, the report claims.

A survey of 2,000 adults found that nine in 10 experience sleep problems, one in two engage in risky or dangerous behavior when unable to sleep, and millions of people live with untreated health-damaging conditions such as insomnia or sleep apnea.

About 75 percent of people in work say workplace stress has caused them sleep problems in the past six months, while one in three people suffer from ‘sleep poverty’, where poor living conditions, noise pollution and an uncomfortable sleeping environment reduce sleep quality .

Yet only one in twenty people are aware of the link between poor sleep and serious health problems such as cancer, stroke and infertility, and more than a third are unaware of the best sleep advice.

Only one in six people with insomnia symptoms have been diagnosed – meaning around 14 million people suffer in silence, the report said.

Drugs watchdog Nice recommends Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) as a first-line treatment for insomnia in both the short and long term, but a new Freedom of Information request found that only 17 (12 percent) of 132 NHS Trusts responded offering both face-to-face as digital CBT-I.

With many trying to manage their sleep problems on their own, the report highlights concerns that a lack of knowledge about good sleep habits and behavior is leading people to take misguided steps that risk worsening their problem and harming their health.

For example, one in eight respondents (13 percent) said they have tried drinking alcohol to get a good night’s sleep, while one in twenty (5 percent) admitted to taking someone else’s sleep medication.

The research also found that almost half (48 percent) engage in “unhealthy, risky and sometimes dangerous behavior” when they can’t sleep, including violent or physically aggressive behavior toward those around them (4 percent), emotionally aggressive toward others (10 percent) or driving (5 percent), which is a common cause of traffic accidents.

One in five (21 percent) reported experiencing paranoid, anxious and depressive thoughts when struggling to sleep, while almost a quarter (24 percent) reported eating more unhealthy foods.

The report calls for more public health advice on good sleep habits and better access to treatment.

Lisa Artis, deputy chief executive of The Sleep Charity, said: ‘Although public health campaigns around healthy eating and physical activity have been going on for decades, sleep is being left in the ‘solution box’, despite evidence that poor sleep reduces mortality by 13 per cent increase. cents and is linked to serious physical and mental health problems. We think it is high time for this to change.

‘At a time when the government has never been more focused on preventative measures to tackle ill health, our report clearly shows that sleep can play an outsized role in supporting this ambition and have a positive impact on all six of Britain’s top health problems. , including cancer, cardiovascular disease, dementia and mental health problems.

‘Its impact extends far beyond our health, with sleep problems estimated to cost the UK billions of pounds in lost productivity every year.

“Furthermore, these problems exacerbate existing social disparities, including poverty, which disproportionately impacts economically disadvantaged people.”

She added: ‘There is no doubt that tackling sleep problems is complex and multi-faceted, which is exactly why a National Sleep Strategy is so desperately needed.

‘We believe this government and the next have a golden opportunity to lay the foundations for a better education and support system that would make a huge difference to the lives of the millions of people in Britain who struggle with sleep.’

The report says GPs often feel pressured to prescribe medication due to a lack of training in sleep. NHS data published last year shows that a record 1 million people are now prescribed drugs for insomnia – with the number of children prescribed sleeping pills tripling in recent years. seven years.

However, sleep experts say that medication is often not the right treatment for people experiencing sleep problems.

DUP MP Jim Shannon, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Sleep, said: ‘The UK has a cultural disregard for the importance of sleep that spans government, workplaces, health services and families, with sleep often relegated to a soft issue that is being downplayed. , misunderstood and insufficiently supported.

‘However, this underestimation belies the far-reaching ripple effects that sleep problems have on individual and public health, as well as on the economy and society at large.

‘I welcome the publication of this timely and important report and strongly encourage the Government to take action now to create a National Sleep Strategy to tackle the problem and make a transformational difference to the lives and wellbeing of many millions of people.’