Being awakened at night by an external cause has real physical effects: less attention, bad mood. A chopped night corresponds to less than 4 hours of continuous sleep.
Crying, bottles or nocturnal bowel movements are part of the daily life of many young parents. Bad mood, disturbances in attention, drowsiness … so many consequences that do not belong to the legend. A study, published in Sleep medicine this July 8, shows that choppy sleep is the cause of disturbed cognitive function and a sour mood.
Disrupted natural sleep
In this pilot study, 48 students aged 20 to 29 wore a watch-like device on their wrist. The tool measured their time asleep and awake. The first night they slept for 8 hours straight. The second, they were woken up four times and had to perform chores for 10 to 15 minutes. As the lead author of the study, Prof. Avi Sadeh, explains, many people experience nocturnal awakenings of this type: “The sleep of many parents is interrupted by external causes, such as a crying baby. (…). Doctors on call, who can receive several calls per night, also experience these interruptions. These nocturnal awakenings can be relatively short – only five to ten minutes – but they disrupt the natural rhythm of sleep. “
Anger towards baby
The effects of a nocturnal awakening are directly observed. The cognitive abilities of people who have woken up during the night are disrupted: they concentrate less easily, they are drowsy during the day and are also in a bad mood. No wonder, a choppy night does not equal more than four consecutive hours of sleep. “Our study shows the impact of a single interrupted night’s sleep,” admits Professor Sadeh. “But we know that these effects add up, and therefore the functional cost is huge for young parents, who wake up three to ten times a night for months. In addition to the physical effects of interrupted sleep, parents often develop feelings of anger towards their babies, and feel guilty about these negative feelings. “
Lots of damage to health
Parents, doctors on call or night workers are all exposed to the same situation: their sleep cycle is disrupted. In addition, there are chronic insomniacs and those who do not get enough sleep. Many French people are in sleep debt. The effects of such a situation are heavy on the health plan. Several studies have proven it: lack of sleep greatly increases the risk of vascular diseases – including high blood pressure -, of developing type 2 diabetes or even obesity. Mental disorders are also more common in short sleepers, perhaps because they are made hypersensitive to emotions and pain.
A disturbed circadian rhythm, like those who do 3-8s or young parents, can affect up to a quarter of the neurons responsible for the sleep / wake system. The effects of a sleep debt are also observed in terms of cognition, with difficulties in memorizing, learning and concentrating. As we know, sleeping well also promotes the formation of connections between neurons …
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