Is The 'Rest Gap' Why Women Are So Exhausted?

Last month, UK-based Stylist magazine published an article about the “rest gap.” In essence, the rest gap describes the idea that women get less sleep than men because of societal pressures and expectations that take their focus away from much-needed rest.

Research says women tend to report more sleep trouble in general. They also have to deal with hormone-related issues like hot flashes or nausea during pregnancy, perimenopause and menopause, which further disrupt sleep.

This all creates a tough cycle where women aren’t getting the seven to nine hours of sleep they need.

“I’m always kind of happy to see that somebody can give a name that simplifies such a very nuanced and complex phenomenon,” said LaWanda Hill, a psychologist based in California. “The rest gap speaks to just the ways in which women disproportionately are impacted in society.”

“I think you can add the rest gap, you can add the wealth gap, you can add the health gap… it just really simplifies all the things which we are subjected to because of structures, systems, policies, laws and societal norms,” Hill continued.

There are a lot of contributing factors to the rest gap. Below, experts share their thoughts on why this happens and how to sleep better if you’re experiencing it:

Women are conditioned to take care of others before themselves.

“Societally, there’s so many different reasons why [the rest gap happens] and why women often don’t give themselves permission to rest,” said Tasha Bailey, a psychotherapist in London and author of “Real Talk: Lessons From Therapy on Healing & Self-Love.”

“I think as women, we’ve been primed to be people-pleasers,” Bailey continued. “When we’re children, we’re often celebrated for being nurturing and showing empathy