Sleep more, worry less
Having an early night may help to reduce negative thinking, study says
The pressures of modern living often lead to many of us sacrificing our sleep to rush out a last-minute report or assignment. When we finally do slip under the covers, stressful thoughts seem to keep us from drifting away. Now, a study published in the journal Cognitive Therapy and Research shows that late sleeping hours and interrupted sleep periods may contribute to a higher occurrence of negative thoughts.
The team describes repetitive negative thinking as “an abstract, perseverative, negative focus on one’s problems and experiences that is difficult to control,” Medical News Today reported.
100 undergraduate students from New York’s Binghamton University were asked to complete questionnaires and computerised assignments which measured repetitive negative thinking - in other words, how much they worried or obsessed over something.
The team also polled the students, asking whether they were ‘morning’ or ‘evening’ types, and if they kept regular sleep hours or later ones.
The findings revealed that students who identified themselves as ‘evening types’, slept at a later time and for shorter periods, experienced more repetitive negative thoughts than ‘morning types’ who slept earlier and for longer periods. The results seem to suggest a link between disruption to sleep and the development of repetitive negative thinking.
As a next step, the team plans to investigate how sleep data can be utilised to treat those suffering from anxiety disorders. According to Medical News Today, the team says that individuals with negative thoughts usually suffer from generalised anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, social anxiety disorder or a range of other conditions. Typically, these individuals also suffer from sleep problems.
"If further findings support the relation between sleep timing and repetitive negative thinking, this could one day lead to a new avenue for treatment of individuals with internalising disorders," Medical News Today reported study co-author Meredith Coles as saying.
Further links:
Medicalnewstoday.com
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