Your anger may be due to lack of sleep

Burning midnight oil can make you a cranky bird in the morning. In fact, research has now shown that lack of sleep intensifies anger …

It's true: losing only a few hours of sleep at night makes you angry, especially in frustrating situations.

According to research from Iowa State University, this is the first study to show that sleep loss causes anger.

"Despite the usual tendency to get used to irritating conditions – an uncomfortable shirt or a barking dog – people with sleep disorders actually showed a tendency to anger and distress, essentially reversing their ability. to adapt to frustrating conditions. Nobody has shown it before, "said Zlatan Krizan, professor of psychology in the state of Iowa.

The study of sleep

For the study, the participants were divided into two groups.

One group maintained a normal sleep routine and slept an average of seven hours per night. The second group limited their sleep from two to four hours each night for two nights and had about four and a half hours each night.

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Measure anger

Participants go to the laboratory – before and after sleep manipulation – to evaluate different products while listening to an annoying brown noise (similar to the sound of the water spray) or a more aversive white noise (similar to a signal static).

Krizan says the goal was to create uncomfortable conditions, which tend to cause anger.

"In general, the anger was significantly stronger in people with sleep disorders," said Professor Krizan. "We manipulated how annoying the noise was during the task and, as expected, people reported more anger when the noise was more unpleasant. When sleep was limited, people reported even more anger, no matter how loud. "

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Unique sleep effect to anger

It is well established that losing sleep increases negative emotions, such as anxiety and sadness, and decreases positive emotions, such as happiness and enthusiasm, said Professor Krizan.

The researchers measured these effects to more generally understand the relationship between sleep, anger and emotions. Prof Krizan says that they found that the loss of sleep had a unique impact on anger, and not only resulted in a more negative feeling at that time.

So, if you need to keep your cool, go to bed as soon as possible.

Source: Iowa State University via www.sciencedaily.com

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