Loneliness can affect sleep: Sleep

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDNov 3 2011

A new study from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine published in the Nov. 1 issue of the journal Sleep, suggests that loneliness could be significantly associated with sleep fragmentation, but not sleep duration or subjective sleep measures.

Dr. Lianne M. Kurina, from the University of Chicago, and colleagues investigated whether loneliness was associated with sleep fragmentation or sleep duration. They looked at a total of 95 individuals from a communal society, with a mean age of 39.8 years. The participants were interviewed about loneliness, depression, anxiety, and stress; and subjective sleep measures (sleep quality and daytime sleepiness) were assessed. Objective sleep properties, including sleep fragmentation and sleep duration, were measured using a wrist actigraph worn by the participants for one week.

Results showed that after considering age, gender, body mass index, risk of sleep apnea, and negative affect (comprising symptoms of depression and anxiety, and perceived stress), higher loneliness scores correlated with significantly higher levels of sleep fragmentation. There was no association of loneliness with sleep duration, or with either subjective sleep measure.

“Our study provides evidence that those individuals who perceive themselves as less connected to others have more fragmented sleep. Sleep could be a pathway through which perceived social isolation influences health,” the authors write.

“It may very well be a stress factor,” said Phyllis Zee, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Northwestern University. “If you feel lonely, that itself could be a stress. It’s almost like a threat where you can’t feel safe.”

Lack of sleep, particularly deep sleep, can cause a number of other health problems such as changes in blood pressure and blood sugar, Zee said. “Mental health is essential for physical health,” she said. “Poor sleep can lead to poor mental health.”

The findings reinforce a 2002 study published by the American Psychological Society that compared the loneliness reported by college students with their measured quality of sleep. That study found that the lonelier the students felt, the more their sleep was interrupted during the night. “It’s an interesting look at how our psychological health can affect our physical well being,” Kurina said.