Sleep stories for grownups are more popular than ever due to the global pandemic and may be the solution to reducing the increasing cost of sleep deprivation to the economy
Sleep deprivation was costing the UK economy £40.2 billion per year before the global pandemic and that amount is only going to increase. With more people than ever experiencing sleep problems, many are turning to sleep stories for help.
Until a few years ago it was common for people to think bedtime stories were just for children, many adults who fell asleep to bedtime stories used to keep this to themselves. Now, with worry about the pandemic and about returning to work, adults listening to sleep stories has started to go mainstream.
In a recent survey by The Sleep Council, they found 75% of people surveyed are experiencing sleep problems due to unease around the current global pandemic and 77% responded that lack of sleep is interfering with their ability to function in the day, so more people than ever are seeking out solutions for getting that much needed good nights sleep.
During the current global pandemic people have been experiencing increased stress, anxiety and worry and a break in their usual daily routines. This has had a profound impact on their sleep habits, with people worrying about employment, money and the health of themselves and their loved ones. Now, many people who have been off of work for months are anxious about the transition back to work. The worry and uncertainty makes it more difficult for people to shut off racing thoughts to fall asleep, many have also lost their sleep/wake routine, so have been turning to sleep stories on apps and YouTube channels for help.
Sleep stories for grownups creator Dan Jones has found views of his sleep stories have increased by more than 20% over the past few months.
“During these hard times of pandemic, your stories are a blessing.” commented one listener of Dan Jones sleep stories, Ginger Holt.
Dan has been creating sleep meditation sleep stories since 2000. He started out creating stories to help autistic and ADHD children and children with emotional and behavioural challenges in care homes to sleep, then in 2007, started sharing sleep stories on YouTube. Initially, few people seemed interested in using the sleep stories, but over the last couple of years there has been an increase in popularity of adults listening to sleep stories and this has increased further and faster since the start of the global pandemic. This coincides with the findings of The Sleep Council, that there has been a significant increase in people experiencing sleep difficulties because of the pandemic.
Dan says: “It is interesting, until a couple of years ago adults would ask me to make them sleep stories, but they didn’t want anyone to know they listened to bedtime stories, they were embarrassed about others finding out and would often say ‘bedtime stories are what children listen to, not adults’, now, it seems to be more acceptable.”
“The pandemic has really disturbed my sleep.” Another of Dan’s sleep stories listeners, Hibah Sayed, comments, “Trying to sleep has been met with a lot of anxiety and racing thoughts. But your sleep stories have been helping SO much.”
Dan adds: “Sleep is so important and so easily disrupted. The sleep stories I create focus on giving the listener an experience through sensory descriptions engaging their imagination and stimulating the onset of sleep. The listener has something to focus on other than their thoughts and worries, enabling them to physically and mentally relax and sleep. All of my stories are original, often created during my weekly live sleep story creation sessions with the ideas suggested by viewers. They contain therapeutic metaphors to help with worry, stress and anxiety to continue the benefits for the listener in their daily life.”
In this time of global uncertainty, people are searching for healthy ways to maintain physical and psychological wellbeing, whether this is through exercise, learning new skills, talking with friends and loved ones, or turning to meditation and sleep stories.
Dan offers over 200 sleep stories for grownups on his Dan Jones Hypnosis – Guided Sleep Meditations YouTube Channel, adding new stories every week, these can be listened to for free. Over 150 of these stories are also available on streaming services like Spotify, Amazon Music, SoundCloud and Apple Music. The 15-90-minute-long sleep stories span a wide range of topics from fantasy, fairy-tale and science-fiction stories, to stories of love, traveling and adventure. There are even stories from the perspectives of cats, dogs and other animals and stories with and without background music and sound effects.
Notes to the Editor:
Dan Jones is an autistic UK hypnotherapist, author and YouTuber from Chichester, West Sussex
Person to contact: Dan Jones, dan@danjoneshypnosis.com
Dan Jones Hypnosis - Guided Sleep Meditations YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/danjoneshypnosis
Sample sleep meditation sleep story for grownups: Rediscovering Magic, https://youtu.be/NeFQNNPClQQ
I can supply any sleep story for grownups YouTube thumbnail images if required
The Sleep Council Survey Findings: https://sleepcouncil.org.uk/survey-reveals-covid-19-having-severe-impact-on-sleep/