It turns out there is something to the old adage, “Early to bed, early to rise keeps a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”
Researchers have discovered that night owls are not only more likely to suffer from nightmares than early-to-bed types, but their chances of sleeping poorly and being sleepy during the day also are higher.
“Evening-type people have more nightmares because of their sleep patterns,” study lead author Yavuz Selvi, assistant professor of psychiatry at Yuzuncu Yil University in Van, Turkey, tells msnbc.com. The work was published online Aug. 25 in the journal Sleep and Biological Rhythms.
The combination of late nights and slumber-filled mornings disrupts the body’s natural circadian rhythm. Frequent nightmares make matters worse because they usually wake us up, and if we fear having them they can make getting to sleep harder, according to researchers.
They study involved 264 medical students who were tested on whether they were early birds or night owls, their quality of sleep, frequency of nightmares and how upsetting they were.
Scientists say that the consequences of poor sleep can be more severe than simply feeling tired or yawning frequently.
“A possible relationship has emerged between eveningness and certain mental disorders, including substance abuse, bulimia, sleep disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, suicidality, and mood disorders,” Selvi says.
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