A new study reveals that sleep deprivation and/or lack of sleep impairs the ability to stop and block unwanted thoughts. Intrusive, negative or unwanted thoughts tend to be a complaint of those living with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychiatric conditions. Sleep deprived participants reported an increase of nearly 50% in unwanted thoughts compared to those who had a good night’s sleep. This data suggest that sleep loss could contribute to mental illness by developing symptoms and obstructing thought suppression mechanisms.
Clinical Psychological Science. October 2020.
doi.org/10.1177/2167702620951511
