THREE-quarters of adults in the Bournemouth area are suffering from a type of low-grade exhaustion dubbed "semisomnia", according to a sleep expert.

Dr Neil Stanley coined the term to describe the 21st century epidemic that affects the south-west more than any other region of Britain. The cost of sleep deprivation has been estimated at £290 million a year.

In a study based on more than 30 years of academic research into sleep, Dr Stanley concludes that two thirds of adults in the south-west fail to wind down regularly before bedtime.

He has identified three main causes: Always On: time has become irrelevant as there are no set hours for anything anymore. People feel guilty if they switch off and do not make the most of what is on offer, leaving little time for sleep.

Blackberry-Bushed: unable to clearly separate work and home life, leaving many feeling like there is no off button'.

Bedtime-Buzz: constantly plagued by negative cyclic thinking, persistent worrying or brain overload.

Dr Stanley says: "People need to prepare for sleep in the same way they warm up before exercise. Sadly, there is no magic on' or off' button for humans."

His solution is to practise the three Rs of sleep.

Resolve - what is on your mind and how can you put it aside until tomorrow?

Relax - what helps you stop, sit down, and take time out from your day?

Release - what helps your mind switch off from your day to day pressures and allows you to drift and think about nothing in particular?

Dr Stanley says half of doctors are not trained in sleep medicine and the remaining half receive just five minutes of training in seven years. Training them how to wind down would enable them to help more patients.

FACTFILE:

  • Three-quarters of the UK population wakes up exhausted each day
  • Six out of 10 people in the UK do not wind down regularly
  • More than four out of 10 of us sleep badly some or most nights
  • Twice as many women as men suffer from insomnia
  • Nearly two-thirds of people have fewer than eight hours sleep a night and nearly a third of those fewer than six hours.
  • Adults average seven hours sleep per night, compared to nine at the turn of the last century.
  • A quarter of British people - 15 million - take days off work due to a lack of sleep
  • Sixty per cent of women feel tired much or all of the time, but half of men say they rarely or never feel tired.