In an ideal world, we’d all start our days cheerful, wide-eyed, and well-rested with no need for coffee.
While caffeine may help us stay awake, not getting adequate rest has severe consequences.
Most people know that sleep affects physical performance, mental functioning, and mood.
However, most don’t know that sleep also impacts our relationships.
This article explains why sleep is crucial for your relationship.
Table of Contents
Sleep Makes You Empathize With Your Partner
Empathy refers to the ability to feel what another individual is feeling.
For instance, if your partner is sad, you’ll be able to resonate with their sadness to an extent; thus, you’ll care about what they’re experiencing.
When you don’t get sufficient sleep, the part of your brain dedicated to empathy won’t function well.
Recent studies indicate a difference in the empathy levels of individuals who get adequate sleep and those who don’t.
Individuals who sleep better are more empathetic towards people in distress.
Getting enough sleep can help you read the emotions of your partner better.
Sleep deprivation has detrimental effects on your ability to process emotional information.
This can have practical implications on your relationship as you can fail to respond appropriately to your partner’s hurt feelings, thus escalating conflict.
Sleep Reduces Anger and Conflict
Sleep deprivation can make you more irritable.
According to a recent study, individuals who don’t get enough rest tend to become angry quickly and may get aggressive.
Many risk factors of aggression are aggravated by inadequate sleep.
For instance, your ability to turn down emotional upset is compromised when you’re sleep-deprived.
Consequently, your anger can get out of control, making you more likely to target and blame your partner.
In addition, sleep deprivation reduces your likelihood of practicing techniques like reappraisal — thinking of upsetting things from a helpful perspective.
Sleep deprivation also leads to cognitive impairments regarding decision-making and alertness to danger.
Inability to control your aggression can be a bane to your relationship.
Getting enough sleep gives you more self-control; thus, you’ll be less likely to lash out at your partner even when they provoke you.
Adequate Rest Means a Happier Relationship
The positive emotions you attribute to your relationship, such as how secure you are in the relationship and how close you feel to your partner, are directly tied to sleep quality.
Research reveals that couples with fewer sleep problems tend to be happier.
There’s a bi-directional influence between sleep and happiness.
Partners with fewer relationship problems sleep better, while those with issues rarely get enough rest.
Beyond not getting enough sleep, other factors can create sleep incompatibilities that can affect couples, causing strife in a relationship.
These include snoring, work schedules, and mattress firmness.
If your sleep problems are tied to factors such as a snoring partner, you can check out cpap.com.au to find the perfect solution for their sleep apnea.
Inadequate Sleep Affects Decision Making
Decision-making is essential to any good relationship, from the initial encounter to making a stable long-term connection.
Staying with your partner or breaking up with them requires increased sensitivity to their needs and accurate analysis of future consequences.
Lack of sleep impairs decision-making.
The prefrontal cortex handles decision making, understanding expectations, goal planning, and assessment of future consequences, all of which are essential factors to consider in any relationship.
Your decision to spend the rest of your life with your significant other is tied to getting enough rest for your brain to be refreshed and process complex information.
When you’re sleep-deprived, your brain won’t function optimally, and you’ll be prone to inaccurate mental processing, ultimately making you insensitive to your partner’s needs.
Lack of Sleep Makes You Less Attractive
Even though physical attractiveness isn’t the most crucial aspect of a relationship, it doesn’t hurt to look good.
Sleep deprivation affects our physical attractiveness and can form wrinkles and dark circles under our eyes.
A recent study established that people who get enough sleep are considered more attractive than those who don’t.
Additionally, sleep deprivation can lead to weight gain as the hormones responsible for signaling fullness and suppressing appetite stop sending the right signals.
Most people desire physically attractive partners and presume that attractive people are better than less attractive ones.
Such beliefs are usually advantageous to attractive people as they’re more likely to attract partners.
However, if you’re sleep deprived, your chances of landing a partner are reduced.
Wrap Up
Sleep quality affects your relationships, and relationships can also affect your sleep.
Your sleep will be affected if you constantly fight with your partner or feel rejected.
Sleep problems can become cyclical, with relationship issues resulting in poor sleep and vice versa.
Fortunately, you can break the cycle by getting adequate sleep regularly.
You can try various methods to ensure a good night’s sleep.
When you are well-rested, you’ll be able to connect with your partner in empathetic ways.
