World Sleep Day (the Friday before the northern hemisphere

vernal equinox Spring equinox or vernal equinox or variations may refer to: * March equinox, the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere * September equinox, the spring equinox in the Southern Hemisphere Other uses * Nowruz, Persian/Iranian new year which be ...

) is an annual event organized by the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Sleep Society, formerly World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM), since 2008.World Sleep Day
accessed 19 March 2011 The goal is to celebrate the benefits of good and healthy

sleep Sleep is a state of reduced mental and physical activity in which consciousness is altered and certain Sensory nervous system, sensory activity is inhibited. During sleep, there is a marked decrease in muscle activity and interactions with th ...

and to draw society's attention to the burden of sleep problems and their medical, educational, and social aspects, and to promote the prevention and management of

sleep disorders A sleep disorder, or somnipathy, is a medical disorder affecting an individual's sleep patterns, sometimes impacting physical, mental, social, and emotional functioning. Polysomnography and actigraphy are tests commonly ordered for diagnosing sle ...

Sleeplessness

It was estimated in 2019 that sleep deprivation cost the US over $400 billion a year with Japan losing $138 billion, Germany $60 billion, the UK $50 billion, and Canada $21 billion. In an article in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in 2019, World Sleep Day was criticized as helping to turn sleep into a commodity and pushing the idea that everyone should aspire to a single unbroken block of sleep, an idea which historians say is a recent invention.

Annual celebration

World Sleep Day is observed annually on the Friday before the

March Equinox The March equinox or northward equinox is the equinox on the Earth when the subsolar point appears to leave the Southern Hemisphere and cross the celestial equator, heading northward as seen from Earth. The March equinox is known as the ver ...

. The first World Sleep Day was held on 14 March 2008. Events involving discussions, presentations of educational materials and exhibitions take place around the world and online.

References

{{reflist Health awareness days March observances Recurring events established in 2008 Sleep