Hi RobySue,There have been numerous studies that have shown that when you put most insomniacs in a sleep lab, they have a much, much harder time accurately telling when they are asleep from when they are awake as compared to non-isomniacs. One study that I remember reading about had the investigators waking the subjects up at random and asking "Were you awake before I woke you?". Insomniacs typically answered, "Yes" regardless of the EEG evidence concerning the wake/sleep status before the wake was initiated; noninsomniacs typically answered the quesition correctly saying "No" when the EEG said they were asleep and "Yes" when they were awake. On questionaires following PSGs, insomniacs typically vastly OVER estimate the amount of Wake After Sleep (as compared to the EEG data) and UNDER estimate the actual sleep they get in the lab. Noninsomniacs are usually much more accurate in their estimates of sleep time.
As an FYI, this site is inferring that the percentage of folks who underestimate how long they slept is 5%.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sle ... l-insomnia
This study says it is is 17%Paradoxical insomnia is found in only about 5 percent of patients who present for treatment of insomnia
http://www.apapracticecentral.org/updat ... bance.aspx
Regarding the studies you mentioned, could it be that both parties are right in that someone could be between a state of wakefulness and sleep where they might remember being awoken even though the EEG says they are asleep? Also, if you're awakened repeatedly, due to the constant disruptions on an already sleep deprived state, it is going to be hard to be able to accurately remember how much they slept.An unusually high number of individuals (17 percent) had paradoxical insomnia (the subjective perception of little or no sleep, despite a normal sleep duration) as compared to the civilian population. Additionally, individuals with sleep disorders were more likely to be diagnosed with depression and anxiety than their non-sleep disordered counterparts. Lastly, those individuals with pain syndromes were more likely to have insomnia.
To be honest, since the medical community has a history of minimizing the complaints of people with insomnia, I am very leery of any claims that everyone with this designation under report how much sleep they get. Also, I am not sure I understand why this is such an emphasis in sleep medicine.
I can understand it if someone is sleeping 6 hours and they are claiming they sleep 2. But for most people with insomnia, they are only sleeping 3 to 4 hours a night and sometimes even less. So really, does it matter if they might be inaccurate in their reporting? It isn't like getting an extra hour is going to make a difference in their sleep usually.
I also find it interesting that people who overestimate how well they sleep aren't deemed as having a sleep mis-perception. It is like people who complain about insomnia are unintentionally deemed as whiners and or complainers.
49er
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