Sunday Times 2
Feeling anxious? Go to bed earlier
Many people lie awake at night, worrying about anything from their job to the future.
Now, psychologists have discovered a simple and cheap solution: going to bed earlier.
What time a person goes to bed and how much they sleep affects how much they worry, according to a new study.
Researchers found people who sleep for less and go to bed late are often overwhelmed with negative thoughts than those who keep more regular sleeping hours.
People who sleep less or go to bed late are often overwhelmed with repetitive thoughts they cannot control. Getting an early night can help curb these anxieties, psychologists found
People who go to bed later, or sleep less, have pessimistic thoughts that seem to repeat in their minds, which they feel unable to control.
They also tend to worry excessively about the future, delve too much into the past, and experience annoying intrusive thoughts, mirroring the symptoms of people with anxiety and depression.
Regular lack of sleep might actually be linked to the development of anxiety, the researchers concluded.
The findings come after a spate of studies suggested getting between seven and eight hours sleep is essential for good health.
Less than this is thought to increase the risk of a person becoming fat, depressed, and can even trigger severe health problems such as cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity, because it upsets the body clock.
As part of the new study, researchers asked 100 young adults at Binghamton University to complete questionnaires and two computerised tasks.
These measured how much the students worried, ruminated or obsessed about something – three gauges of repetitive negative thinking.
They were also asked if they were more of a ‘morning’ or an ‘evening’ person.
The researchers found that people who sleep for shorter periods of time – and go to bed later – often experience more repetitive negative thoughts than others.
This was also true for those students who described themselves as evening types.
The findings suggest sleep disruption might be linked to the development of anxiety.
Jacob Nota, of Binghamton Univeristy, U.S., who carried out the research, said: ‘Making sure that sleep is obtained during the right time of day may be an inexpensive and easily disseminable intervention for individuals who are bothered by intrusive thoughts.’
Dr Meredith Coles, also of Binghamton University, added: ‘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.’
It has already been shown that focusing on sleep has led to reduced symptoms of mental illness, she said.
The findings appear in the journal Cognitive Therapy and Research.
© Daily Mail, London