Time Pressures pertaining to work

"Modern society has seen a gradual reduction in the average amount of sleep people take and this pattern is more common amongst full-time workers, suggesting that it may be due to societal pressures for longer working hours and more shift-work.On the other hand, the deterioration of our health status is often accompanied by an extension of our sleeping time", said Professor Francesco Cappuccio, leader of the Sleep, Health & Society Programme at the UK's University of Warwick.
If the link between a lack of sleep and death is truly causal, it would equate to over 6.3 million attributable deaths in the UK in people over 16 years of age.

"Five hours is insufficient for most people"
-Sleep expert Professor Jim Horne

Prof Cappuccio said more work was needed to understand exactly why sleep seemed to be so important for good health.

"Sleep is just a litmus paper to physical & mental health. Sleep is affected by many diseases & conditions, including depression & getting improved sleep may not make someone better or live longer, but having less than five hours a night suggests something is probably not right," Horne said.

"Five hours is insufficient for most people & being drowsy in the day increases your risk of having an accident if driving or operating dangerous machinery."