Sleep disruptions negatively affect our everyday moods: Study

Sleep disruptions negatively influence how we react to everyday events, a study analysing 50 years of research on sleep deprivation and mood has found. Researchers found that sleep disruptions for one or more nights, staying awake for extended periods and shorter sleep durations resulted in fewer positive emotions such as joy, happiness and contentment among participants, in addition to numbing them to emotionally arousing situations. The researchers, including those from the University of Houston, US, also found that such disturbances to sleep routines heightened anxiety symptoms in the participants, such as a rapid heart rate and increased worrying. They analysed data from 154 studies with 5,715 total participants. “The implications of this research for individual and public health are considerable in a largely sleep-deprived society.