Election Nightmares: Even Canadians Are Losing Sleep Over Clinton vs. Trump

Normally Canadians don’t get too involved in American politics, but when the Presidential race is between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, it’s difficult to not feel affected.

A recent sleep survey by Edmonton’s Novosbed asked Canadians how the US election is impacting their sleep. Their finding: 22% of respondents reported loss of sleep due to stress caused by the Presidential race, and 16% reported having had a nightmare or dream associated with the election.

“After several members of our Canadian team reported having had dreams about the election following the last debate, we wondered if the election might be affecting the broader Canadian population in the same way. We were astonished to find that Canadians had actually lost sleep over the US election,” says Sam Prochazka, CEO of Novosbed.

The survey, which Novosbed ran in the US as well, found that people under the age of 35 experienced sleep loss and nightmares 40% more frequently than their older compatriots.

In Canada, more men (27%) experienced sleeping disturbances than women. In the US, the trend was reversed, with a staggering 40% of American women reporting the same.

The results showed that respondents were four times more likely to have had an election-related sleep disturbance if they watched the US election debate in bed, as opposed to in another location like the living room—yet 62% of American respondents reported they watched the debate in bed.