If you like to stay up late, this could have consequences for your mental health. That is how.
Are you someone who is a night owl and usually sleeps after 1 am? Well, in that case, there’s bad news for you. New research says sleeping after 1 a.m. can reduce the risk of developing mental and behavioral conditions, such as depression and anxiety. The study was published last month in the journal Psychiatry Research.
As part of this study, the researchers compared the preferred sleep synchronization (chronotype) with the actual sleep behavior of almost 74,000 UK adults. While the researchers expected that respecting the chronotype would be very important, the result of the study turned out to be something else.
The lead author of the study, Jamie Zeitzer, while speaking to the media said, “We found that alignment with your chronotype is not crucial here, and that actually staying up late is not good for your mental health“.
The study further determined that night owls who aligned with their chronotype were 20% to 40% more likely to have a mental health disorder diagnosis. On the other hand, night owls who slept early were less likely to suffer from mental health problems.
“If I had to guess, morning people who stay up late are quite aware of the fact that their brain is not working all that well, so they may put off making bad decisions,” Zeitzer said. He further added, “Meanwhile, the person who stays up late thinks, ‘I feel great.’ “This is a big decision that I’m making at 3 in the morning.”
Experts suggest that it is essential to sleep between seven and nine hours. Constantly sleeping after midnight can have detrimental effects on both your physical health and overall well-being. Here are a couple of long-term health implications of sleeping late at night:
- Increased stress hormones.: Nighttime sleep patterns are associated with elevated levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, which can increase feelings of anxiety and stress.
- weakened immune system: The effectiveness of the immune system is compromised by lack of sleep, increasing susceptibility to infections and diseases.
- Metabolic consequences: Disturbed sleep patterns can negatively affect the body’s metabolism, potentially leading to weight gain, insulin resistance, and an increased risk of metabolic syndrome.
- Circadian rhythm disturbance: Constantly sleeping after midnight can disrupt your body’s internal clock, affecting critical functions such as hormone production, metabolism regulation, and body temperature control.
- Impaired cognitive function: Prolonged periods of nighttime sleep can impair cognitive functions, leading to difficulties with concentration, retrieval of memories, and general mental acuity.
