Sleep and mental health are related but measured in different ways. In U.S. surveys, short sleep, sleep difficulties, mental distress and suicide-risk indicators describe overlapping populations without being interchangeable diagnoses or outcomes.
Key Sleep and Mental Health Statistics
The most broadly useful figures include:
- In 2024, 30.5% of U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized adults slept fewer than 7 hours on average in a 24-hour period.
- In 2024, 34.5% of U.S. adults ages 50–64 had short sleep duration.
- In 2024, 40.2% of Black non-Hispanic U.S. adults had short sleep duration.
- In 2018, 2.52 times the odds of frequent mental distress were observed among U.S. adults ages 18–64 sleeping 6 hours or less versus those sleeping more than 6 hours.
- In 2018, 14.1% of U.S. adults ages 18–64 experienced frequent mental distress.
- In 2022, 36.8% of U.S. adults had insufficient sleep in the age-adjusted BRFSS estimate.
- Through October 2024, 78% of adults with depression had insomnia symptoms in a systematic-review estimate.
- In a 2019 meta-analysis, insomnia predicted later depression with an odds ratio of 2.83.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, 23.50% of general-population participants had insomnia in a pooled estimate.
- In 2023, 39.7% of U.S. high-school students reported persistent sadness or hopelessness.
- In 2023, 28.5% of U.S. high-school students reported poor mental health most of the time or always in the past 30 days.
- In 2023, 20.4% of U.S. high-school students seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year.
- In 2023, 9.5% of U.S. high-school students reported at least one suicide attempt in the past year.
- In 2023, getting at least 8 hours of sleep was associated with adjusted prevalence ratios of 0.53–0.67 across four student mental-health and suicide-risk indicators.
- In a 2021 systematic review, sleep disturbances were associated with 2.17 times the risk of incident suicidality.
- In 2023, 53.5% of LGBQ+ U.S. high-school students reported poor mental health, compared with 21.5% of heterosexual students.
Contents
- Sleep and mental health statistics in U.S. adults
- Short sleep duration and mental distress data
- Insomnia, depression and anxiety statistics
- Adolescent sleep and mental health statistics
- Sleep-related suicide-risk statistics
- Sleep difficulty disparities and mental health indicators
Sleep and Mental Health Statistics in U.S. Adults
The CDC’s 2024 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) measured short sleep as fewer than 7 hours on average in a 24-hour period among U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized adults. The estimate was 30.5%; the measure is self-reported and is not a diagnosis of insomnia or mental illness. CDC, Short Sleep Duration and Sleep Difficulties Among Adults: United States, 2024
| 2024 NHIS group | Short sleep duration |
|---|---|
| All adults | 30.5% |
| Men aged 18+ | 30.6% |
| Women aged 18+ | 30.4% |
| Ages 18–34 | 27.2% |
| Ages 35–49 | 33.4% |
| Ages 50–64 | 34.5% |
| Ages 65+ | 27.2% |
By race and Hispanic origin, short sleep was reported by 40.2% of Black non-Hispanic adults, 27.9% of Asian non-Hispanic adults, 28.9% of White non-Hispanic adults and 29.0% of Hispanic adults. Hispanic adults may be of any race, and categories follow NHIS definitions.
Short Sleep Duration and Mental Distress Data
A CDC-hosted 2018 BRFSS analysis of 273,695 U.S. adults ages 18–64 found that 13% reported sleeping 6 hours or less per night. Frequent mental distress, defined as mental health not being good on at least 14 of the past 30 days, affected 14.1% of participants. CDC, Effect of Inadequate Sleep on Frequent Mental Distress
Adults sleeping 6 hours or less had 2.52 times the odds of frequent mental distress compared with adults sleeping more than 6 hours, with a 95% confidence interval of 2.32–2.73. This is an adjusted cross-sectional association, so it cannot establish temporality or causality.
The CDC/AASM adult recommendation used by the study was at least 7 hours per night. Separate age-adjusted CDC BRFSS estimates show how insufficient sleep varied across selected years:
| Year | U.S. adults with insufficient sleep |
|---|---|
| 2013 | 35.8% |
| 2014 | 35.1% |
| 2016 | 35.0% |
| 2018 | 36.2% |
| 2020 | 33.3% |
| 2022 | 36.8% |
The BRFSS sleep measure was not in the core survey in some intervening years. In 2022, state estimates ranged from 30% of adults in Vermont to 46% in Hawaii; in 2020, model-based county estimates ranged from 24% in Boulder County, Colorado, to 48% in Greene County, Alabama. CDC, FastStats: Sleep in Adults
Insomnia, Depression and Anxiety Statistics
Insomnia symptoms are not automatically the same as DSM insomnia disorder. A systematic review with searches through October 2024 found insomnia symptoms in 78% of adults with depression, with a 95% confidence interval of 70%–85%, across 14 studies and 10,337 participants. The Global Prevalence of Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Insomnia Among General Population During COVID-19 Pandemic
A separate 2019 systematic review and meta-analysis examined insomnia as a later predictor in longitudinal study populations. Its 13 primary studies required at least 12 months of follow-up:
- Insomnia predicted later depression with OR 2.83 (95% CI 1.55–5.17), based on 10 studies.
- Insomnia predicted later anxiety with OR 3.23 (95% CI 1.52–6.85), based on six studies.
- Insomnia predicted later alcohol abuse with OR 1.35 (95% CI 1.08–1.67), based on two studies.
- Insomnia predicted later psychosis with OR 1.28 (95% CI 1.03–1.59), based on one study.
The authors reported moderate risk of bias in the primary studies, and these associations do not show that insomnia alone causes a later mental disorder. PubMed, Insomnia as a predictor of mental disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a pooled review estimated depression prevalence at 28.18% (95% CI 23.81%–32.54%), anxiety at 29.57% (95% CI 24.67%–34.47%), stress at 25.18% (95% CI 14.82%–35.54%) and insomnia at 23.50% (95% CI 16.44%–30.57%) in general populations. These were pandemic-era synthesis estimates from varied countries, instruments and populations, not current global rates. Systematic review and meta-analysis
Adolescent Sleep and Mental Health Statistics
The 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) was a nationally representative, school-based survey of U.S. public and private high-school students in grades 9–12, including 20,103 students. Its indicators are self-reported and should not be read as clinical diagnoses. CDC MMWR, Mental Health and Suicide Risk Among High School Students and Protective Factors — Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2023
- 39.7% reported persistent sadness or hopelessness in the past 12 months, with a 95% CI of 37.7%–41.7%.
- 28.5% reported poor mental health most of the time or always in the past 30 days, with a 95% CI of 26.7%–30.4%.
- 20.4% seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, with a 95% CI of 18.7%–22.3%.
- 9.5% reported at least one suicide attempt in the past year, with a 95% CI of 8.4%–10.7%.
Sex differences were also reported: persistent sadness or hopelessness affected 52.6% of female students versus 27.7% of male students, while poor mental health affected 38.8% versus 18.8%. Serious suicide consideration affected 27.1% of female students versus 14.1% of male students, and reported attempts affected 12.6% versus 6.4%.
Getting at least 8 hours of average school-night sleep was associated with adjusted prevalence ratios of 0.53–0.67 across all four mental-health and suicide-risk indicators. The analysis was cross-sectional, so the sleep association is not causal.
Sleep-Related Suicide-Risk Statistics
A 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis of seven cohorts assessed sleep disturbances and later suicidality outcomes. The cohorts included 1,570,181 people at baseline, recorded 1,407 suicide attempts and recorded 1,023 completed suicides during follow-up. PubMed, Sleep Disturbances and the Risk of Incident Suicidality
- Sleep disturbances were associated with 2.17 times the risk of incident suicidality (95% CI 1.45–3.24).
- Sleep disturbances were associated with 3.54 times the risk of an incident suicide attempt (95% CI 3.07–4.09).
- Sleep disturbances were associated with 1.80 times the risk of incident completed suicide (95% CI 1.32–2.44).
The suicidality analysis had high heterogeneity (I²=82.5%), and observational evidence cannot prove causation. Outcome definitions also varied by cohort, so the relative risks should not be interpreted as individual probabilities.
Among 2023 U.S. high-school students, 41.0% of LGBQ+ students seriously considered suicide versus 13.0% of heterosexual students, and 19.7% reported an attempt versus 6.0%. Poor mental health was reported by 53.5% of LGBQ+ students versus 21.5% of heterosexual students; identities and categories follow YRBS definitions. CDC MMWR
Sleep Difficulty Disparities and Mental Health Indicators
The 2024 NHIS found that 54.8% of U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized adults woke feeling well-rested most days or every day. The comparable figures were 58.2% for men and 51.7% for women. CDC, Short Sleep Duration and Sleep Difficulties Among Adults: United States, 2024
| 2024 NHIS sleep-difficulty measure | All adults | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trouble falling asleep most days or every day | 15.4% | 18.5% | 12.2% |
| Trouble staying asleep most days or every day | 18.1% | 21.4% | 14.6% |
These are past-30-day self-reports, not formal insomnia diagnoses. Trouble staying asleep rose from 12.7% among adults ages 18–34 to 22.3% among adults ages 50–64, while trouble falling asleep declined from 18.3% among adults ages 18–34 to 12.8% among adults ages 65 and older.
Asian non-Hispanic adults had the highest reported well-rested prevalence at 61.5%, compared with 51.4% among Black adults. Race and Hispanic-origin categories follow NHIS definitions, and subgroup results should be read within the stated 2024 U.S. survey population.