Study states that lack of sleep can make you feel angry
| Nov 29, 2018, 17:45 IST
A recent study has found that if you're sleep deprived, you tend to feel angrier in frustrating situations. While there are studies that have shown a link between sleep and anger, the questions which arose were whether lack of sleep was to blame for anger of whether anger was to blame for disruptive sleep. “Despite typical tendencies to get somewhat used to irritating conditions - an uncomfortable shirt or a barking dog -- sleep-restricted individuals actually showed a trend toward increased anger and distress, essentially reversing their ability to adapt to frustrating conditions over time. No one has shown this before,” a researcher said.
Two groups of people were selected for the study. One group was asked to maintain their normal sleep and the other group was asked to restrict their sleep by about two to four hours. The study was conducted over a period of two days so this gave researchers time to put people in situations one would face on a daily basis. After the participants returned to the lab, they were subjected to different noises like brown noise (spraying water) and white noise (static). It was evident that people who got at least 7 hours of sleep seemed a lot less annoyed by people who got only about four and a half hours of sleep.
The researchers were able to conclude that sleep loss could uniquely impact anger and that anger did not just result from an overall feeling of negativity in that moment.
Two groups of people were selected for the study. One group was asked to maintain their normal sleep and the other group was asked to restrict their sleep by about two to four hours. The study was conducted over a period of two days so this gave researchers time to put people in situations one would face on a daily basis. After the participants returned to the lab, they were subjected to different noises like brown noise (spraying water) and white noise (static). It was evident that people who got at least 7 hours of sleep seemed a lot less annoyed by people who got only about four and a half hours of sleep.
The researchers were able to conclude that sleep loss could uniquely impact anger and that anger did not just result from an overall feeling of negativity in that moment.