Here's Why You Must Sleep For 8 Hours A Day

So if you thought that sleeping is all about recharging you for the next day, you are mistaken. Sleeping for good 8 hours plays an important role in your overall well-being, both physical and mental. Yes, a recent study reveals that lack of sleep is linked to a risk of depression and anxiety. Ideally, an individual should be sleeping for 8 hours in a day. Inability to sleep well makes it difficult for you to shift your focus from negative thoughts.

The researchers added that this is what interferes with people's lives and makes way for negative thoughts to stick around for a long time.

"We found that people have some tendencies to have thoughts get stuck in their heads, and their elevated negative thinking makes it difficult for them to disengage with the negative stimuli that we exposed them to," Meredith Coles, Professor at the Binghamton University explained.

"These negative thoughts are believed to leave people vulnerable to different types of psychological disorders, such as anxiety or depression," he added.

This study, published in the ScienceDirect journal, included the assessment of the sleep duration of people with highly repetitive negative thoughts like worrying and ruminating.

Participants were shown various pictures with intent to check their emotional response. Researchers kept track of their attention through their eye movements. Researchers explained that the timing and duration of sleep can have a good impact on the development of psychological disorders. This could help psychologists treat depression and anxiety by improving the sleeping habits of the patients, shifting their sleeping hours to a healthier time or ensuring that they go off to sleep as soon as they are put in bed.