Sleep & Your Marriage

Not getting a good night's sleep could be fueling marital arguments. But you might be surprised at who it seems to affect the most.

If you don't get a good night's sleep you can be irritable the following day. And that can have an impact on just about everything you do. But a new study shows that when a wife doesn't get a good night's sleep, it can affect the marriage for both partners. In other words, as the saying goes "when mama's not happy, nobody's happy".

Researchers found that when women took longer to fall asleep the night before they ended up having poorer interactions with their husbands the next day. As you can imagine, being tired can make small things that might otherwise seem a little funny become frustrating and annoying. And that can lead to a little marital conflict.

Surprisingly, when husbands got less sleep it actually made for a happier marriage. Although the researchers involved in this study aren't sure why, they think it might be because when the husband isn't getting sleep it's most likely because of nighttime interactions in bed, whereas when the wife can't sleep it's because she is worrying about work, the family or even the marriage.

So, one key to a good marriage is making sure you get a good night sleep. If your partner is keeping you awake, because of snoring or tossing and turning, talk with them about it. In some cases there might even be a medical problem, like sleep apnea that can not only affect your marriage but your spouse's life as well.