New Survey Shows Kiwi Women Stressed About Finance

Media release June 27, 2008

New Survey Shows Kiwi Women Stressed About Finances

New Zealand’s toughening economic climate is affecting women’s health with more than a quarter saying that financial worries stop them sleeping.

New research commissioned by JOHNSON’S_® Dreamy Skin and conducted by Consumer Link (a division of Colmar Brunton) showed that 75% of female respondents (and 57% of males) said stress affected their sleep at least once a week.

The nationwide study* of Kiwi men and women examined the impact of stress on sleep patterns and the methods used to cope with stress.

The JOHNSON’S_® Dreamy Skin Sleep Survey also revealed that more than 11% of these women used either alcohol or sleeping pills to help them relieve this stress.

Those women surveyed said the most common cause of their stress was ‘money concerns’ at 28% followed by ‘personal relationships’ (23%) and ‘job related concerns’ at 17%. In comparison, job related concerns were the top stress inducers for men (30%) with money concerns next on 19%

Money stresses also played a role in complicating relationships with 1 in 5 women (20%) surveyed saying that money stresses had a negative impact on their relationship with their partner.

Nearly half of all females (48%) said the most likely to thing to cause them to lose sleep is stress ahead of external noise such as children, traffic or even their partner’s snoring!

The most common methods employed by women to relieve stress were reading, watching television or listening to music 46%. This was followed by making a cup of tea or taking ‘me time’ at 20%.

More than three quarters (77%) of Kiwi women also said that lack of sleep had a negative impact on their looks.

Director of the Sleep Well Clinic’s Dr Alex Bartle says there are a number of recognised methods to reduce stress and improve your ability to sleep well.

Dr Bartle regularly treats adults and children with sleep disorders and is on the Education Sub-Committee of the Australasian Sleep Association.

He suggests deep abdominal breathing techniques and progressive muscle relaxation as a good place to start.

“You could spend an hour before bed time writing down some of the concerns that you have, with action you might take tomorrow to tackle the stress situation. You can also write a detailed diary of your activities and tasks for the next day,” he says.

Dr Bartle also suggests making sure that you leave at least one hour before bed to take a soothing bath or shower followed by quiet relaxation.

“My advice is to delay bed time until you are really sleepy and then tell your mind to stop stressing - out loud if necessary!”

ENDS

*Five hundred men and women aged 15 plus took part in the national telephone survey

Note to editors: Dr. Alex Bartle (MB BS (Lond), Dip.Obst.(Auck), PGDip.Sleep Medicine (Syd). FRNZCGP) is Director of the Sleep Well Clinic, located in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington. Alex graduated from The London Hospital in 1970 and began general practice in Christchurch in 1978. In 2001, he began a sleep medicine practice in Christchurch, The Sleep Well Clinic. In April 2007 Alex left his General Practice to concentrate on the Sleep Well Clinics in Christchurch, Auckland and Wellington. He now runs the only full-time sleep Medicine practice in New Zealand, investigating and treating all Sleep Disorders from OSA to Insomnia, Shiftwork Disorders, to children who can’t sleep. Alex is on the Education Sub-Committee of the Australasian Sleep Association, with the express goal of devolving information about ‘sleep’ to Health Professionals, Industry, and the general public.

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