WORLD SLEEP DAY® (WSD) – HISTORY
The first WSD was held in 2008. The annual awareness day is held the Friday before Spring Vernal Equinox.
“Sleep Well, Live Fully Awake” – March 14, 2008
“Drive Alert, Arrive Safe” – March 20, 2009
“Sleep Well, Stay Healthy” – March 19, 2010
“Sleep Well, Grow Healthy” – March 18, 2011
“Breathe Easily, Sleep Well” – March 16, 2012
“Good Sleep, Healthy Aging” – March 15, 2013
“Restful Sleep, Easy Breathing, Healthy Body” – March 14, 2014
“When Sleep is Sound, Health and Happiness Abound” – March 13, 2015
“Good Sleep is a Reachable Dream” – March 18, 2016
“Sleep Soundly, Nurture Life” – March 17, 2017
“Join the Sleep World, Preserve Your Rhythms to Enjoy Life” – March 16, 2018
“Healthy Sleep, Healthy Aging”– March 15, 2019
“Better Sleep, Better Life, Better Planet”– March 13, 2020
The following WSD will be Friday, March 12, 2021.
One of the most important activities of our life is sleep. An average human should get at least seven to eight hours of sleep every day. However, we often end up sleeping for lesser hours due to our hectic schedule. A sedentary lifestyle, paired with work pressures often keep us awake till the wee hours of morning, robbing us of our much needed siesta. But sleep, is important.
In order to celebrate sleep and talk about important issues related to sleep, people celebrate World Sleep Day every year. The day is organized by the World Sleep Day Committee of World Sleep Society. The annual event is held on the Friday before Spring Vernal Equinox of each year. This year, the World Sleep Day will be celebrated on March 13 and will aim to lessen the burden of sleep problems on society.
Here are a few interesting facts about sleep that you might be unaware of:
Let’s start with pets. If you are a cat parent, you might have seen your pet feline sleep most of the time. Well, for the unversed, this is because two-thirds of a cat’s life is spent asleep.
Do you know how much share does a human spend asleep? Well, on an average, it is about 1/3rd of their life. However, this may vary depending on the age of the human.
Do you know the longest period without sleep? Well, it stands at 11 days straight, set by a Californian student named Randy Gardner in 1964. But, this is absolutely not recommendable. Not sleeping for that long can also lead to a person’s demise.
You might have heard people talk during their sleep. But have you ever wonder about what happens with deaf people who have a habit of talking while sleeping? In several instances, deaf people have been reported to use sign language in their sleep.
Do you know a few terms related to sleep? If you find it difficult to get out of your bed in the morning, the phenomenon is known as dysania, a form of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Parasomnia is a term used for unnatural movements during your sleep, while hypnic jerks refers to the sensation of falling when the body is half asleep and jerking.
Human being is the only mammal that can willingly delay sleep. The two peak times when a human feel extremely tired and sleepy are about 2am and 2pm.
Falling asleep should take a human somewhere between 10 to 15 minutes. If you sleep within less than five minutes, you are probably sleep deprived.
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