Lacking Sleep? Michigan Among Most Sleep Deprived States

If you feel like you've been burning the candle at both ends, you're not alone. Michiganders don't get much sleep. And maybe there is a new solution.

Using data from County Health records, obesity rates, and reporting of days taken off for mental health, the web site 247 Wall Street was able to piece together the sates with the most sleep deprivation, and Michigan had the sixth worst sleep habits overall.

According to their findings, over 40 percent of adults in Michigan report having trouble sleeping at night, and as a lifelong insomniac, I can relate.

I can also report that medical marijuana has helped with my problem considerably, so there is help if you seek it out.

Among Michigan's other bad sleep stats was 18.3% of all adults reporting bad health, a 32.4% obesity rate and 11% of adults reporting diabetes. The state also averages 4.7 days taken off for mental health per person per month.

Top 10 Most Sleep-Deprived States

Hawaii
West Virginia
Kentucky
Tennessee
Ohio
Michigan
Alabama
New York
South Carolina
Pennsylvania

As for the least sleep-deprived state, that would be Minnesota, where only 29.1% of adults report insufficient sleep.

And now that marihuana is legal in Michigan, can cannabis be used as a sleep aid?

According to Healthline.com, studies are definitely trending in that direction.

The herb works because it contains different cannabinoids, two of which you’ll see most often:

 

• Cannabidiol (CBD). CBD has a number of health benefits, and is nonpsychoactive, meaning it doesn’t cause you to feel “high.”
• Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC, a psychoactive cannabinoid, is primarily responsible for that “high” feeling.

Something else THC is responsible for? Inducing sleep. So you’ll want a strain that contains more THC than CBD.

According to a 2008 study, ingesting marijuana strains with higher levels of THC typically reduces the amount of REM sleep you get. Reducing REM sleep means reducing dreams — and for those who experience PTSD, it could mean reducing nightmares.

So the theory is that if you spend less time dreaming, you’ll spend more time in a “deep sleep” state. The deep sleep state is thought to be the most restorative, restful part of the sleep cycle.

Still, REM is important for healthy cognitive and immune functioning, and marijuana with higher THC levels could impair your sleep quality if taken long term.

But this isn’t true across the board. Some studies have found that sleep can actually be impaired by regular use of marijuana. It’s clear that marijuana changes sleep cycles.