Reducing the amount of sleep you get at night can negatively impact a person’s satisfaction with their life and lead to feelings of unhappiness. This conclusion was reached by researchers from the University of East Anglia. Research results published In Psychological Bulletin.
The new scientific study by British scientists is based on the results of 154 previous studies on the effect of sleep on a person’s quality of life (meta-analysis). In total, more than 5 thousand people between the ages of 7 and 79 participated in the studies. Scientists sought to find out how nighttime sleep duration affects subjective feelings of happiness.
The results showed that if a person sleeps less than usual, their ability to think positively decreases. Being deprived of one hour of sleep can trigger feelings of unhappiness. A 3- to 4-hour reduction in normal sleep time was associated with significantly poor mood and lower life satisfaction. Additionally, people who slept too little were more likely to show symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Researchers also found that multiple night wakings (associated with the need to care for a young child, for example) did not significantly increase feelings of sadness compared to an overall lack of sleep.
Previously found A simple way to assess the severity of snoring.