Some people swear they do their best thinking or work late at night, but there may be a major downside to being a night owl. New research finds that people who love staying up until the wee hours don’t really thrive late at night and even worse? It could hurt their mental health.
In a new study from Stanford University of nearly 75-thousand adults, researchers compared participants’ preferred sleep timing, known as chronotype, with their actual sleep behavior. And they found that regardless of what time they prefer to go to bed, everyone is better off going to bed early.
- Both early birds and night owls were more likely to have higher rates of mental health conditions like depression and anxiety if they stayed up late.
- Night owls who stay up late were 20% to 40% more likely to have a mental health disorder diagnosis than those who go to bed earlier.
- Overall, people who “rise with the sun” were found to have the best mental health.
- As a result, the study recommends turning in by 1 a.m.
Researchers admit they were surprised by the findings, as they expected that following your chronotype would be more important. “We found that alignment with your chronotype is not crucial here, and that really it’s being up late that is not good for your mental health,” explains senior study author Jamie Zeitzer. “The big unknown is why.”
Source: NY Post
