Does your partner snore so loudly that it seriously tests your love and devotion? A modern solution to an age-old problem might be the so-called ‘sleep divorce‘.
It’s not an actual divorce, but rather the increasingly common practice of two partners sleeping in separate beds to enhance the quality of sleep – thus dispelling the dogma that those who are united in life must also be so in rest.
Because of their varying habits and schedules, partners might occasionally ruin a good night’s sleep by snoring, hogging the blanket, or setting the alarm for earlier than you want to get up. Taking a sleep break from them may have several advantages, according to sleep specialists.
“There are benefits for some partners to sleep separately,” Dr. Erin Flynn-Evans, a consultant to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, told CBS News. “Studies demonstrate that when one bed partner has a sleep disorder it can negatively affect the other sleeper.”
“For example, bed partners tend to wake up at the same time when one has insomnia. Similarly, when bed partners differ in chronotype, like when one is a night owl the other is an early bird, these differing sleep preferences can negatively impact both partners’ sleep”, he said.
The new sleep trend has also taken off thanks to social media. On TikTok, the hashtag “#SleepDivorce” has so far received more than 356,400 views.
However, distance is not always advisable. It’s not only a matter of “till death do us part,” but also of involuntary yet precious health surveillance. Having a sleeping buddy might enable someone else monitor your sleep habits and identify any diseases or sleep problems you might be unaware of.
And then, what about that thing called love? “We release oxytocin and some other chemicals that are called ‘the cuddling hormones’ and things that give us a good feeling and bring us closer to that person we’re imprinting upon that we’re with,” Dr. Daniel Shade, a sleep specialist with Allegheny Health Network, explained. For that, you need proximity.
