Let’s face it, sharing a bed with someone—even someone you love—can be a nightmare. Maybe your other half is a kicker. Maybe they have night-sweats. Maybe they sleep-walk, or steal both halves of the blanket, or snore loudly enough to shake the foundation of your house. Maybe you just don’t agree with their interior design choices! In any case, it’s time to end the stigma and fully embrace the “I Love Lucy” method; it’s okay for couples to sleep in separate beds!
A 2017 study from the National Sleep foundation found that as many as one-in-four couples already choose to sleep separately, and they might be onto something. Getting a full night’s sleep has proven benefits to your physical and mental health. If you’re facing a sleep debt because of a shared bed, here are scientific reasons it might be time to stop toughing it out:
- Too little or bad quality sleep directly affects your relationship.
Studies run by Berkeley and the NIH have found that partners who are experiencing poor sleep have more hostility towards their partner the following morning. You may have heard the phrase, “never go to sleep angry”, but losing sleep is a major cause of marital strife.
2. Sleeping well allows your body to repair itself.
The NIH has proven that good sleep habits can:
- Repair the heart and circulatory system,
- Bring the hunger hormones into balance,
- Affect insulin levels,
- Fight off infections
So, while it might be tempting to keep the routine and compromise on your sleep habits, you may be compromising a lot more than you realize.
Sources:
https://news.berkeley.edu/2013/07/08/sleep-fights/
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep-deprivation/health-effects
