US News & World Report examines the issue of sleep deprivation in the military.
Struggling with sleep is a common reaction to stress, so it is perhaps not surprising that sleep problems are among the most common complaints reported by service members after returning from deployment. But the RAND survey of nearly 2,000 service members across all branches of the military showed that sleep problems, including short sleep duration and poor sleep quality, were common regardless of deployment.
The military’s “mission first” Soldier’s Creed leads to sacrificing sleep for operational demands. Some of the lifestyle issues that can turn sleep patterns upside-down may be easier to spot in the microcosm of the military – the stress of being deployed in a hostile environment, being away from family members or interrupting sleep cycles to digitally connect with those back home. The disruption can also be caused by something as simple as having to sleep essentially cheek by jowl in noisy barracks.
