美国国家公共电台 NPR Working Americans Are Getting Less Sleep, Especially Those Who Save Our Lives

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Every year, the number of Americans who don't get enough sleep goes up. According to a new study, one-third of working adults are sleep deprived. NPR's Patti Neighmond has more.

PATTI NEIGHMOND, BYLINE¹: The people hardest hit when it comes to not getting enough sleep are those we depend on the most for our health and safety.

JAGDISH KHUBCHANDANI: Protection services, police officers, health care occupations, nurses and doctors.

NEIGHMOND: Jagdish Khubchandani headed the study. He's a professor of health science at Ball State University in Indiana. He analyzed² federal health data of more than 150,000 adults who worked in different occupations. Nearly half of police officers and health care workers got less than seven hours sleep a night. For some, it was only five or six hours. Khubchandani says one of the main reasons for lack of sleep is likely stress.

Take Detective John Foster, who's been with the Ball State University Police Department for 25 years. He's seen some of the worst things a person can imagine, and at night, he says, it can be hard to sleep.

JOHN FOSTER: It just replays in your mind, over and over. And I don't think there is any way for me to ever forget some of the things that I have seen.

NEIGHMOND: Tragedies like suicide and emotional interactions with victims of crime.

FOSTER: Just the way that someone has made me feel at a scene, just saddened for them or maybe something said where maybe I thought I could have done something a little better to help somebody.

NEIGHMOND: Even in less stressful jobs, clinical psychologist Todd Arnedt with The University of Michigan says worry takes a big toll³ on sleep.

TODD ARNEDT: Probably the most common thing I hear from people is, I'm not able to shut my mind down at night. My mind is running about what I've got to do the next day, job-related stress or a job-related deadline I have to do, or I'm worried about my kids.

NEIGHMOND: And Arnedt says many of his patients just don't devote enough time to sleep.

ARNEDT: They're sort of burning the candle at both ends, as the saying goes.

NEIGHMOND: For a variety of reasons - long working hours and extracurricular activities.

ARNEDT: We're a very engaged 24-hour society, and one of the first activities that gets curtailed⁴ is our sleep.

NEIGHMOND: Another contributor to poor sleep, says researcher Khubchandani, is technology - 24/7.

KHUBCHANDANI: Social media, negative news - your mind is in a state of activity, constant activity. And you are almost, like, addicted⁵ to more info, which does not allow your mind to rest and sleep.

NEIGHMOND: Optimal⁶ sleep ranges between seven and nine hours a night; less than that puts people at increased risk of diabetes⁷, heart disease and stroke, as well as anxiety, unstable⁸ moods and even thoughts of suicide. Psychologist Arnedt says people can learn strategies to help them get to sleep and stay asleep. These days, Detective Foster does several things that help.

FOSTER: Make sure I get plenty of exercise, make sure that I am eating a plant-based diet, a pretty clean diet. I limit my caffeine intake⁹. And I'm mindful of the blue lights and the electronics right before I go to bed.

NEIGHMOND: Now most nights Foster gets seven hours of sleep; on a good night, 8 1/2.

Patti Neighmond, NPR News.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

4 curtailed   

v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Spending on books has been severely curtailed. 购书开支已被大大削减。
• Their public health programme had to be severely curtailed. 他们的公共卫生计划不得不大大收缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

6 optimal   

adj.最适宜的；最理想的；最令人满意的

参考例句：

• What is the optimal mix of private and public property rights in natural resources?私人和国家的自然资源产权的最适宜的组合是什么？
• Optimal path planning is a key link for the sailing contest.帆船最优行驶路径规划是帆船比赛取胜的关键环节。

7 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

8 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

9 intake   

n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口

参考例句：

• Reduce your salt intake.减少盐的摄入量。
• There was a horrified intake of breath from every child.所有的孩子都害怕地倒抽了一口凉气。