The Home for Donor Families Online
Whether you are a donor family, healthcare professional, transplant recipient or friend, we welcome you to the National Donor Family Council's new online home. There are many things to see and do here, and we hope you'll visit us often. Comments or questions? E-mail donorfamily@kidney.org or call 800.622.9010. We'd love to hear from you!
Sleep Difficulties While Grieving
By Jeff Feldman, Ph.D.,
Director of Occupational Rehab Services, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
While sleep is a basic human need, and almost everyone experiences occasional sleepless nights or periods of poor sleep, about one-third of adults report chronic sleep difficulty. Sleep problems are most likely to occur in times of stress, illness, or a traumatic life experience such as loss of a loved one. Sleep difficulty following such a loss can develop into a chronic problem. This can make the daily ritual of drifting off to sleep an added nightmare for those who are grieving. Sleep deprived individuals are more likely to develop serious illness or accidents, with insomniacs having twice the number of auto accidents as individuals who have normal sleep. One study showed that people who slept fewer than six hours each night had a 30% higher death rate from cancer, heart disease, stroke, and all other causes than those who sleep seven or eight hours a night. 
