A Memphis morning news anchor recently went viral for something most of us hope never happens on camera: she fell asleep during a live broadcast.
Dominique Dillon later told *TODAY* that she opened her eyes just as the shot was cutting away and thought, “Oh my goodness, I can’t believe this just happened to me.” The moment was embarrassing, but the response online was largely supportive. Many people saw themselves in her situation. Dillon explained she is the mother of a 2-year-old and an 8-month-old. Her husband had been working a double shift, her baby was teething, and sleep had become nearly impossible.
Most of us will never have a viral workplace moment like Dillon’s. But the underlying problem is widespread—and it hits women harder.
Why Sleep Loss Hits Women Harder
Research shows women experience more severe consequences from insufficient sleep than men. Brain health professional and corporate wellness expert Candy Calderon notes that the negative effects of sleep loss build faster in women and take longer to recover from. The risks include higher rates of cardiovascular and metabolic problems, insulin resistance (raising diabetes risk), and even increased dementia risk.
Hormonal factors play a major role. Menstruation, pregnancy, postpartum recovery, perimenopause, and menopause all disrupt sleep in ways men do not experience. Calderon points to a controlled study in which a single night of sleep loss measurably impaired women’s working memory—while leaving their own self-assessment intact. In other words, they were impaired and didn’t realize it. Men in the same study showed neither effect. Sex differences in sleep, she adds, remain chronically understudied.
High-Functioning Survival Mode
Researcher and strategist Dr. Samantha-Rae Dickenson frames Dillon’s moment as a visible example of what she calls High-Functioning Survival Mode™. It’s what happens when people keep pushing through depletion and insufficient support until the body finally overrides the will. The nervous system stays locked in survival mode because the demands of work, life, and caregiving never pause long enough for real recovery.
“You keep showing up and saying you’re fine,” Dickenson says, “until your body has the final say.”
These moments are often treated as relatable or even admirable. But they also reveal how normalized this pattern has become—especially for high-functioning women and Black women in particular. Outward success and reliability are rewarded, even expected, while the internal cost of constant juggling without adequate rest is ignored.
What Organizations Actually Need to Do
Resilience workshops and wellness talks are not enough. You cannot train someone out of a sleep deficit. Calderon argues that real change requires structural adjustments: more flexible calendars and shifts, better leave policies, and a genuine “return-to-work” runway after maternity leave. The first 90 days back should avoid pre-dawn or overnight assignments whenever possible. Recovery time should be separated from regular PTO.
Managers should also be trained to recognize signs of sleep deprivation, because people in sleep debt are often unreliable judges of their own capacity. Self-reporting rarely works.
Calderon’s simple test for companies: “Name one thing on your calendar that changed because of what you know about sleep. If the answer is nothing, you have a wellness program, not a well-being strategy.”
Organizations need infrastructure that accounts for the reality that some employees—particularly women and Black women—are more likely to carry heavy sleep debt. The responsibility for rest cannot rest solely on individuals already stretched thin.
Dillon’s on-air moment was a brief, human slip. The larger issue it exposed is systemic, predictable, and largely preventable—if workplaces are willing to treat sleep as a structural concern rather than a personal failing.