Are you used to staying up late at night? If yes, then this habit can lead to mental illness.

This warning was revealed in a medical study conducted in the United States.

A Stanford University study found that people who are prone to staying up late at night are at a higher risk of developing mental health problems.

Studies have shown that if you’re used to staying up late, you’re more likely to suffer from mental and behavioral disorders, even if you’re not used to getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep.

About 74,000 middle-aged people were included in this study.

19,000 of them used to wake up early in the morning, 6,800 liked to stay up late at night, while the rest were somewhere in between these two extremes.

 

Activity monitors were worn for 7 days to monitor their sleep.

The effects of their preferred bedtimes were compared on sleep duration and mental health.

The results showed that people who are used to staying up late have a higher risk of suffering from mental disorders such as depression and anxiety.

In fact, late nighters are 20 to 40 percent more likely to be diagnosed with depression or anxiety than early risers.

Research has found that people who go to bed early at night and wake up early in the morning have the best mental health compared to others, but if they are forced to stay up late for some reason, then their mental health is also negatively affected. are compiled.

The results suggest that staying up late is detrimental to mental health, but the reason is unclear, the researchers said.

He said that probably most of the people who stay up late at night are addicted to smoking and overeating, which affects the mind as well as the body.

He said that there is also an idea that staying up late at night causes changes in the body and mind, which also affects mental health.

Now the researchers will try to find out what changes people who stay up late at night can make to improve their mental health.

The results of this study were published in the journal Psychiatry Research.

Earlier, research published in the Journal of Affective Disorders in November 2022 reported that people who stay up late at night have a higher risk of being affected by anxiety than those who wake up early in the morning.

In this study by researchers from Italy, Germany and Chile, 40 people were included, 20 of whom were used to staying up late at night, while the rest were those who liked to go to bed and wake up early.

The researchers said the findings provide insight into the effects of the body clock on the mind and suggest that staying up late at night increases the risk of anxiety because people have different mental responses to fear than others. happens.