But a new study from researchers at the University of California, Berkeley
has added another possible consequence of not getting enough sleep: loneliness.
The study, published earlier this month in the journal Nature Communications,
found that sleep-deprived people felt more lonely and less social around
other people. Researchers also found that well-rested people observing
the sleep-deprived individuals rated them as more lonely and less socially
desirable. And, after the observers saw a brief clip of a lonely person,
they themselves felt lonelier.
The study involved 18 healthy young adults, and more than 1,000 observers
recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk marketplace for the online
portion of the study.
“I think this is an interesting study,” said Dr. Chris Winter,
neurologist at Charlottesville Neurology and Sleep Medicine and author
of “The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep Is Broken and How to Fix
It.”
“There are many studies that illustrate how sleep deprivation affects
our mood, energy, ability to pick up on social cues, risk-taking behavior,
enthusiasm, concentration, etc. The number of patients in the study —18
— is a little underwhelming.”
How sleep loss might impact social interactions
Despite the small sample size, Winter said he’s not surprised by
the results.
“My guess is that sleep deprivation impairs this drive on many levels,”
he said. “Motivation to interact, the ability to focus and concentrate
on what they are saying, the ability to effectively interpret social cues,
monitoring appropriate content, deriving pleasure from the interaction…
all of these things are going to be impaired. Let’s not forget the
fact that when one is sleep-deprived, one has a strong desire to sleep.”
In other words, the overwhelming desire to sleep, for someone who needs
sleep, takes precedence over heading to the bar after work with friends.
“I believe that this kind of sleep deprivation, often seen in shift
workers, is a huge reason for the relationship issues they struggle with,”
said Winter. “These individuals are often forced to choose between
sleep and social interaction… both choices lead to loneliness.”
Dr. Jay Puangco, a neurologist specializing in sleep medicine at the
Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute at Hoag in California, said sleep deprivation can affect mood, attention, and
cognition.
A sleep-deprived person does not feel well,” he said. “They
may not have the energy required for social interaction. This may require
having alertness to cognitively process what other people are saying,
reading their body language, and giving appropriate feedback.”
He did find it interesting that even people who slept well avoided people
who were sleep-deprived, and that the loneliness became contagious.
“People who are sleep-deprived simply are not happy people,”
he said. “Nobody wants to be around a moody person.”
Even though sleep is important and has observable consequences like these,
Puangco said the value of sleep is underestimated in our society.
“In fact, society often sees sleeping as a sign of weakness,”
he said. “Why sleep when you could be doing something? Working leads
to increased productivity, which means if you want to get ahead, the first
thing to sacrifice is sleep.”
But he said the exact opposite is true.
“Sleep improves attention, cognition, and health, and can make a
person more efficient and productive with decreased errors,” he
said. “We always preach about diet and exercise. Diet and exercise
require a strong foundation of sleep to be effective.”
Tips for better sleep health
Puangco offered some suggestions for improved sleep, including getting
up around the same time each day — even on weekends. Exercise regularly
during the day, but avoid exercise in the late evening.
Also avoid mind-stimulating activities like paying bills in the few hours
before bed. Avoid any alcohol within three hours of sleep because it can
contribute to awakening during the night, he added.
“Before bed, keep a to-do journal,” he said. “Write down
all the things to worry about. Then write down what you can do tomorrow.
Mark the other things that [you] can do later on [in] the week. This will
help clear [your] mind of worry.”
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