Losing sleep for 2 nights, are we getting older?

A recent study shows that we feel many times older than we actually are when we lose sleep. This negatively affects physical and mental health.

According to research published in the medical journal BMJ Open , just 2 nights of insomnia is enough to make us feel older . On the contrary, good and regular sleep helps our minds become comfortable and forget this feeling.

A research team from Sweden found that on average, study participants felt 4 years older when they only slept 4 hours for 2 consecutive nights. Some people even think they are decades older.

Lack of sleep makes us feel older - (Photo: SHUTTERSTOCK).

Meanwhile, people who lay in bed for 9 hours claimed they felt about 3 months younger than their actual age.

Dr Leonie Balter, psychologist and study author, said: 'Sleep has a big impact on how old you feel and this also affects your long-term sleep patterns. Even if you only sleep less for two nights in a row, it still has a big impact on how you feel (about your age).

According to Ms. Balter, feeling older also affects people's physical and mental health.

People who feel this way often eat unhealthily, exercise less, and are less willing to socialize or take on new experiences.

Ms. Balter's team conducted two separate studies. In the first survey, 429 people aged 18 to 70 answered a set of questions about how they felt after having several sleepless nights in a month.

The sleepiness level of these people was also assessed based on a standard scale commonly used in psychology research.

The research team found that on average, volunteers who lacked sleep every day or many days felt they were 3 months older than their actual age. While people who sleep well feel up to 6 years younger.

However, at this time the research team is still not sure whether lack of sleep can make people feel older or not.

In the next survey, Balter's team continued to study 186 people from 18 to 46 years old about how they felt after 2 nights of enough sleep (9 hours) and not enough sleep (4 hours).

As a result, on average, volunteers felt 4.44 years older when they didn't get enough sleep.

'If you want to feel youthful, the most important thing is to protect your sleep,' Ms Balter said.

In addition, this feeling also depends on each person's sleeping habits, including two main groups : 'early birds' (sleep early, get up early) and 'night owls' (sleep late, wake up late).

'Night owls' often feel older even when they get enough sleep, while 'night owls' think the same thing when their sleep is disturbed.

This discovery helps 'shape' people to follow healthy living habits, from which they can receive related benefits, Ms. Balter said.

Exercise helps sleep better

Another 10-year study with more than 4,000 participants, published in the journal BMJ Open, showed that regular exercise 2-3 times per week improves sleep.

The research team analyzed the exercise habits and daytime sleepiness levels of all volunteers. They found that people who exercised twice a week (for more than 1 hour at a time) fell asleep 42% more easily than those who did not exercise and 55% more than those who 'sleeped normally'.