Health Warning:

Sleeping together can be dangerous for your health.

This week there has been a series of articles in the press suggesting that the couple who sleep together will not necessarily stay together. Married couples who choose to sleep in seperate beds are saying this is the secret to their marriage being successful and happy.

Do separate beds or bedrooms suggest emotional distancing or is it a pragmatic decision to have a snore free sleep? It is quite certain that if one person has a bad night, the other does suffer. Sleeping apart, which doesn't have to mean in seperate rooms, would lessen the arguments with the duvet or the constant moving around which is never compatable.

I posed the question to the Beloved, even though I could have put money on his answer. He is a firm believer of the “the longing for the deep, deep peace of the double bed after the hurly burly of the chaise longue.”

He is a snuggler par excellence which is wonderful in winter and a bit of a challenge in summer and, not to mention my erratic thermostat due to being a woman of a certain age.

Yet, according to research, one couple in five sleep apart. The main reason is due to a partner’s snoring and rather than take the extreme measure of shooting the offender as did J W Hardin, an infamous gunfighter in Texas, they decide on separate sleeping accommodation.

The current scientific thinking is that a good night’s rest is as important for our wellbeing as fresh air and exercise. One doctor said that poor sleep increases the risk of strokes, heart disease and divorce. All pretty drastic outcomes from a bad nights sleep. It is true that a lack of sleep causes irritation and agressive behaviour and our tolerance levels are reduced.One study found that if one partner moved in his or her sleep there’s a 50% chance of the other being disturbed. Interestingly too, it seems that men are more likely to prod their snoring partners awake, while women tend to put up with the noise. Hmmmm!

Nudge nudge, wakey wakey.

[-P1-]