Cranky and Single: Not Enough Sleep a Leading Cause of Relationship Breakups.

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Cranky and Single: Not Enough Sleep a Leading Cause of Relationship Breakups.

Cranky and Single: Not enough sleep a leading cause of relationship breakups by Lisa Daily

A new study at the University of California at Berkeley found that people who didn’t get enough sleep had a harder time appreciating their partner.

“Poor sleep may make us more selfish,” says UC Berkeley psychologist Amie Gordon.

That’s not all. A UK study commissioned by BBC Channel 4 linked poor sleep to as many as one-third of divorces and splits. And 30% of splitting couples cited sleep deprivation (particularly in relation to young children) as a leading factor in the break-up of their relationship.

As a light sleeper who’s been attempting unsuccessfully forever to slumber nestled next to a world class snorer, I can personally attest to the fact that not only does a lack of sleep make you cranky, less appreciative, and even selfish — it makes you bat shit crazy.

I will not confess how many times I’ve fantasized about covering my loved one’s face in Breathe Right strips as he honked and rumbled away at 10,000 decibels. Or how many nights I’ve ended up on the couch with the dog after hours of eyeing my alarm clock like it was the countdown timer on a nuclear device, or how many (dozen) times I’ve poked him in the ribs on any given Saturday night, pleading with him to please just roll over.

You know what REALLY makes me nuts? When I spend the whole night awake, listening to him snoring, and the next day when I’m all bleary-eyed and hallucinating from lack of REM sleep, and he says, “Wow, I really didn’t sleep well last night -AT ALL.”

So yes, I can tell you that I’m crankier, quicker to anger, more likely to eat junk food, more likely to get a migraine headache, and far less patient when I don’t get a good night’s sleep. Most of us are.

My guess is that it’s a Maslow’s hierarchy of needs thing — sleep is essential, like food and water. If we don’t get it, we can kiss those higher level needs, like self-actualization and not feeling a desire to hurl dishware, goodbye.

xo,