By Robert Preidt
HealthDay Reporter Psychological Health During Sleep
“Many of us think we can pay off our sleep debts on weekends and be more productive on weekdays,” said lead author Soomi Lee, assistant professor at the University of South Florida’s School of Aging Studies.
“However, the results of this study show that a single night of insomnia can significantly affect your daily functioning,” Lee said in a university press release.
The researchers rated the effects of sleeping less than six hours a night, which experts say is the minimum the average adult needs for optimal health.
The study included nearly 2,000 middle-aged US adults who were relatively healthy and well educated. They recorded their mental and physical health in a journal for eight days.
About four in ten (42%) had sleep loss at least one night and slept 1.5 hours less than usual.
Sleep loss resulted in negative emotions such as anger, nervousness, loneliness, irritability, and frustration. Physical symptoms were also experienced, including upper respiratory problems, pain, and gastrointestinal problems.
These mental and physical problems remained elevated until participants had a night’s sleep of more than six hours, according to the study.
The biggest spike in symptoms occurred after just one night of sleep loss and steadily worsened by the third day, Lee said.
After that point, the body becomes relatively used to repetitive sleep loss, Lee said. But on the sixth day, sleep-deprived participants reported that the severity of their physical symptoms was the worst.
Previous research by Lee found that losing as little as 16 minutes of sleep can affect work performance. Lee’s work also showed that low sleep loss can decrease daily mindfulness, which is critical to managing stress and maintaining healthy routines.
About a third of adults in the United States sleep less than six hours a night. When this becomes a habit, Lee says it becomes increasingly difficult for your body to fully recover from lack of sleep.
The results were published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine on July 5.
More information
The US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute offers a guide to healthy sleep.
SOURCE: University of South Florida, press release, July 6, 2021
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