Ever felt angry or upset after a bad night’s sleep?

A new study sheds light on why you may feel like this in a little more detail.

According to the new research, just one sleepless night can have a huge impact on negative emotions, as well as physical health.

The study, published in Annals of Behavioural Medicine, looked at the consequences of sleeping fewer than six hours over the course of eight consecutive nights.

Around 2,000 middle-aged US adults recorded their mental and physical health in a diary – with 42% reporting at least one night of sleep loss.

It found that this sleep loss resulted in negative emotions such as anger, nervousness, loneliness, irritability and frustration. 

Not only that, but physical symptoms surfaced, too, such as upper respiratory issues, aches and gastrointestinal problems.

These negative emotions and physical symptoms remained until participants had a night’s sleep of more than six hours. The largest increase in these problems occurred after just one night of bad sleep and steadily got worse until day three.

The research is particularly important as it highlights problems with the idea of ‘catching up on sleep.’

Lead author Soomi Lee said: ‘Many of us think that we can pay our sleep debt on weekends and be more productive on weekdays. However, results from this study show that having just one night of sleep loss can significantly impair your daily functioning.’

Soomi Lee stresses that the best way to ensure strong daily performance, and to look after mental health, is to set aside more than six hours of sleep every night.

But it’s not just adult sleep that’s been making headlines recently. 

Another recent study found that children who practice mindfulness have better quality sleep – with some getting an extra 74 minutes per night in total.

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