Bill Clinton on Sleep Deprivation

While a guest on "The Daily Show" in September, Bill Clinton reflected on the current state of national politics, especially the harsh relationship between the two major parties.
He noted that, unlike 30 years ago, most people in Congress now must travel home every weekend to raise money and they must stay out every weeknight to attend fundraisers. As a result, Clinton said, today's senators and representatives are chronically sleep deprived. He argued that this sleep loss might be contributing to the current spirit of ill-tempered incivility in Washington.
As Clinton said during the interview, "I know this is an unusual theory but I do believe sleep deprivation has a lot to do with some of the edginess of Washington today. You have no idea how many Republican and Democratic members of the House and Senate are chronically sleep deprived because of this [fundraising] system."
I've often argued in this blog that most people in our society do not get enough sleep. Insufficient sleep doesn't just make people sleepy, it affects their mood, concentration, and performance.
Research also has shown that sleep deprivation can have negative effects on our endocrine and immune systems. Inadequate sleep increases our appetite and thus may contribute to obesity, and it weakens our defenses against infections. Since sleep insufficiency is so widespread, it becomes a significant public health problem for society at large.
I'll continue to argue that we need to give sleep a higher priority in our lives because the quality of our lives ultimately depends on it. When we shortchange our sleep time, we also diminish our waking existence.
While we already knew that insufficient sleep was a big problem, Bill Clinton has added a fascinating new dimension to the societal consequences of sleep loss.