Why Sharing A Bed Can Help You Get Better Sleep
There are a plethora of reasons why sharing a bed can disturb your sleep. And it's often fun to make jabs at our partners for stealing the covers, or snoring, or talking in their sleep at night. Yes, complaining about the sleeping habits of our significant other feels like a standard part of any union. That is why we were surprised to find out that it could be the opposite. Sleeping with our other half can actually be helpful to a better night's sleep.
A new study from WebMD states that sharing a bed with someone could be the key to a more restful night's slumber. The research concludes that happy couples who share a bed tend to have more rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. REM is the stage of sleep that holds extreme importance as Medical News Today shares that most of our dreams occur during REM sleep, and it is believed to play a role in learning, memory, and mood.
Why sharing a bed helps with REM sleep
Getting enough REM sleep has also been linked to emotion regulation, memory consolidation, and creative problem-solving, WebMD reports. Patricia Haynes, Ph.D., an associate professor at the University of Arizona's Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, explains to Healthline why having the bed to yourself may not be as great if you are used to sleeping with your partner. "Often, we see interrupted REM sleep in stress-related disorders. So, one responsible conclusion would be that an individual who is used to sleeping with a bed partner may experience a stress response when that partner is absent," she says.
Most would happily welcome the chance for more REM sleep, a better mood, and more creativity when it comes to solving problems. But that doesn't mean you need to share a bed with someone to have the positive benefits linked to quality zzz's. Henning Johannes Drews, a researcher at the Center for Integrative Psychiatry in Germany tells Healthline, "If your partner hinders you to fall asleep or disturbs your sleep, and you are much more relaxed if you sleep alone, that is probably the best sleeping arrangement to do." So go on, keeping throwing those loving jabs at your partner for their sleeping habits, just make sure it's not destroying your night's slumber.