Loneliness believed to play a role in restless sleep
02/11/2011
Lonely people are more likely to fall victim to restless sleep than those who are more connected with others, a new study has found.
Research carried out at the University of Chicago shows that social interaction has a bearing on the quality of time spent on the mattress, regardless of marital status and family size.
Lead researcher Lianne Kurina explained that loneliness is often the result of how people perceive their surroundings, rather than their actual situation.
"There can be people with lots of social connections that feel terribly alone, and conversely there are people with relatively small social networks who do just fine," she commented.
She was keen to emphasise that the study does not demonstrate that loneliness leads to sleepless nights, but rather than it can have an impact on overall health.
Researchers highlighted that the results show how people have various reactions to their surroundings, therefore leading to different perceptions of loneliness.
Posted by Michael Ewing
