March 01, 2005
UK MPs sleep deprived: Report
Britain's Sleep Council says the country's Member of Parliament are among the most sleep deprived Britons. According to a survey released this morning, MPs' lack of sleep could be compromising their decision-making.
The study found only on-call doctors (4.5 hours of sleep) got less sleep than MPs (5 hours), while lawyers, architects and (believe it or not) mothers of young children who manage to get 7 hours per night.
The Sleep Council believes Brits should be concerned their political leaders are not getting enough sleep. The Council cites research that says each hour of lost sleep is associated with a one point loss of IQ. The effects can be reversed after good night's sleep, but the report points out MPs' sleep debt is chronic.
This news will come a surprise to many who believe politicians are lazy, overpaid people who couldn't keep real jobs. You know the ones. They lose their minds whenever they find out their MP/MPP/MLA took a day off. They go bonkers whenever they hear about politicians getting a pay raise. They assume that when legislatures are not in session, their elected representatives are on some kind of extended vacation.
And the media play into this in a big way too. How many times have you heard "Parliament resumed today after it's month-long Christmas break," or, "When the Ontario Legislature resumes next week after it's two-month summer vacation..." ?
It would be funny if it weren't so sad. Whether we like them or not, most politicians do work very hard, yet we call them names, tell them they aren't worth half of the insufficient pay they get, assume they are lazy and expect them to be available at our every whim. Then, every election we bemoan the fact that politics doesn't attract high quality individuals anymore.
Posted by maxthecat at March 1, 2005 02:09 PM
http://www.maxsmewsings.com/mt/archives/2005/03/uk_mps_sleep_deprived_report.php