The consequences of sleeping badly, or sleeping fewer hours than recommended, can be very serious. From the loss of ability to process information to the disappearance of sexual desire, the lack of sleep is relentless. As if that were not enough, a study by researchers at the University of California (Berkeley) indicates that insomnia can trigger a vicious circle of social isolation and loneliness, two well-documented risk factors for premature death.
Sleep has become a luxury item. Many people lose it without knowing exactly why, and experts bombard us with all kinds of ideas and suggestions, which extend to very small details such as avoiding bright screens while in bed.
Now, loneliness is not bad when it is sought voluntarily, and according to a study published in 2016, it could be the key to happiness for a certain group of people. Even the market itself has tried to cover that demand for solitude with special devices... but if loneliness and insomnia are linked, then the situation is worse than we imagined.
The experiment
A team of researchers from the University of California (Berkeley) developed an experiment with 18 participants, in an attempt to identify changes in social interaction due to lack of sleep. The experiment used brain studies with magnetic resonance imaging and a "video stimulus" based on a short film with a strange man trying to approach the participants.
When they felt the stranger was too close, they could indicate their discomfort by pressing a panic button. Those participants who stayed awake all night pressed the button much earlier, with a difference of 60 percent compared to participants who slept without interruptions.
In the second phase of the experiment, 1,000 online participants were added (through Amazon Turk), whose task was to watch the recordings of the original participants who had not slept. For the online public, the sleep-deprived participants looked very lonely, and they would not spend time with them if possible (that is, they were "less desirable" socially).
The ripple effect
Finally, the researchers sought to determine the "contagion effect" by asking online participants what their level of social isolation was after watching the recordings, and everyone admitted feeling a little worse.
In summary: with less sleep, the desire to interact with others also falls, while people perceive us as "less attractive", thus deepening the social crisis caused by insomnia in the first place. We already said it in the past: loneliness can be lethal, and the first step to combat it is probably to sleep better. Much easier said than done...
