From telegraphindia.com
The right to rest is a fundamental human right, according to India’s Supreme Court. The need to forego sleep should then be symptomatic of a health injustice arising from social inequalities
Macbeth had murdered sleep. While the Scottish noble had to kill several people before his guilt robbed him of the pleasure of the “chief nourisher in life’s feast”, contemporary men and women are losing sleep over far less. ResMed, a global health technology company, recently revealed in its fifth Global Sleep Survey that people are losing at least three nights of restorative sleep each week. Stress is the biggest factor behind such sleeplessness — 69% of Indians complained that stress kept them awake at night — with anxiety and financial insecurity being the other predominant causes for the lack of slumber. Women, unfortunately, sleep less than men — hormonal fluctuations, stress, snoring partners are some of the things that keep them from falling asleep — even though they actually need more restorative sleep because they have to multitask much more than their male counterparts.
The globalisation of insomnia highlights a deeper cultural issue where sleep and rest in general are no longer seen as essential. Instead, they are viewed as things people can skip, compromise on, or sacrifice in favour of longer work hours, higher wages, or increased ‘productivity’. As notions of productivity gained ground after the Industrial Revolution, sleeping for more than a certain number of hours became symbolic of laziness. It is thus crucial to pay heed to the findings of a 2023 survey which showed that in the United States of America alone, drowsy workers cost a business between $1,200 and $3,100 in losses per employee every year. There is thus a strong case to reimagine the idea of productivity and its allied consequences.
Hearteningly, there seems to be a growing recognition of the fact that not getting adequate rest leads to serious health issues along with physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion — 89% of people surveyed by ResMed reported adverse health outcomes and/or exhaustion as a result of poor sleep. In fact, this knowledge has led to the creation of an entire economy of sleep with entrepreneurs coming up with diverse merchandise — meditation applications, mattresses and bedding, flavoured supplements shaped like gummy bears — that promise better sleep. It has also given birth to a phenomenon called ‘sleep divorce’ — 78% of Indian couples opt for this — where partners have separate sleeping arrangements in order to catch their forty winks.
But in a society plagued by inequities, the right to rest is a selective privilege. In India, for instance, studies and news reports show that sleep-deprived cab drivers are working 17 hours a day to avail company incentives; gig workers are working three to four jobs at low wages to make a living; tired women are juggling motherhood responsibilities, household chores and employment — these constituencies, along with domestic helps, are among the least rested. The right to rest is a fundamental human right, according to India’s Supreme Court. The need to forego sleep, by the same logic, should then be symptomatic of a health injustice arising from social inequalities.
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