{"id":26397,"date":"2021-06-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.saatva.com\/sexual-orientation-and-sleep\/"},"modified":"2023-05-10T14:14:58","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T14:14:58","slug":"sexual-orientation-and-sleep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/sexual-orientation-and-sleep\/","title":{"rendered":"How Sexual Orientation Impacts Sleep"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s well-documented that everything from your\u00a0personality type<\/a>\u00a0to your\u00a0gender<\/a>\u00a0to your\u00a0career\u00a0affects your ability to get a good night’s sleep. One area that’s currently being explored in more detail is whether your sexual orientation impacts sleep as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sexual orientation and sleep: a look at the research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A 2017 study published in Preventive Medicine Reports<\/em> delved into whether sexual orientation has any impact on sleep<\/a>\u2014something that hadn’t been examined much previously. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPotential differences regarding sleep behavior, a key indicator of long-term health and a growing public health concern, have yet to be studied across dimensions of sexual orientation,\u201d noted Julie Fricke and Maria Sironi, the two study authors. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their study of 7,646 women and 6,688 men (14,334 total), Fricke and Sironi looked at three \u201cdimensions\u201d of sexual orientation\u2014sexual attraction, sexual behavior, and sexual identity\u2014and correlated them with difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or simply not getting enough sleep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps not surprisingly, they found \u201cconsiderable variation regarding sleep disturbances both across and within dimensions.\u201d But like other studies, they concluded that their results \u201cconfirm that sexual minorities report greater sleep disturbances than their heterosexual counterparts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While both men and women across the spectrum of sexual identity and behavior reported sleep problems, the study found that women typically had more sleep-related complaints and that sexual minority (lesbian and bisexual) women sleep worse than sexual minority (gay and bisexual) men.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another big study of 68,960 American adults, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine<\/em>, examined the reported sleep duration and sleep disturbances<\/a>\u2014not feeling rested, difficulty falling asleep, and waking up at night\u2014by sexual orientation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The total study population included 1,149 homosexual, 515 bisexual, and 144 \u201cother\u201d sexual minorities. Researchers Jen-Hao Chen and Cheng-Shi Shiu concluded that there are indeed \u201csubstantial disparities in sleep disturbances between sexual minorities and non-sexual minorities.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They further noted that social and demographic factors alone can\u2019t explain these gaps and interventions are needed to promote the sleep health of sexual minorities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How sexual orientation can increase stress (and worsen sleep)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Clearly, something is working to undermine the ability of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people to get a good night\u2019s sleep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2018 survey of about 15,000 participants published in the journal Psychology of Sexual Orientation & Gender Diversity <\/em>explained the role stress plays in all of this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey included questions about insomnia, and participants answered questions about the stress they experienced in the last month. There was a focus on participants\u2019 relationships with their parents, who can be either a source of emotional support\u2014or a major source of stress\u2014for people in the LGBTQ community as a whole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In line with other research, the survey found that individuals identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual tended to report more problems falling and staying asleep. Women reported more issues with insomnia than men, regardless of their sexual identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the key takeaways from the survey was that family rejection creates stress, and the more family-related stress there is, the likelier it will be to develop symptoms of insomnia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSleep issues aside,\u201d says William Chum, licensed psychotherapist in New York, \u201cLGBTQ individuals experience a higher level of baseline stress to begin with.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He points out that \u201cminority stress\u2014chronic stress experienced by minority groups as a result of stigma, prejudice, discrimination\u2014contributes to significant health disparities between LGBTQ people and their heterosexual counterparts, including a higher prevalence of mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, and traumatic stress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anxiety and depression affect one\u2019s ability to fall and stay asleep, explains Chum, \u201cdue to increased worry, negative thoughts, and feelings of sadness and hopelessness.\u201d He adds that \u201canxiety, depression, and trauma also impact functioning in daily activities that will subsequently impact sleep hygiene.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bottom line: \u201cIf the mind is working hard to cope with anxiety or depression,\u201d says Chum, \u201cit\u2019s going to be rather difficult to turn itself off to get adequate rest.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making it even worse, Chum says that \u201cworrying about not sleeping can result in even more anxiety, which will make it even more difficult to fall asleep.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Managing the stress for better sleep<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you’re experiencing stress related to your sexual orientation, there are a few practical things you can to do calm your anxiety and improve your shut-eye. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For one thing, Chum says he encourages his patients in this situation \u201cto find ways to not include worrying about sleep into the stress that they are already managing by approaching sleep issues with compassion and non-judgment.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chum recommends mindfulness and meditation as effective methods that acknowledge the issue \u201cwithout judgment\u201d and offer practice in accepting it. \u201cWhen an individual can non-judgmentally accept their sleep issues,\u201d he says, \u201cstress about sleep will decline, which will then make it easier to naturally fall asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important to remember that, as Chum puts it, \u201cthere is no substitute for mental health care.\u201d Individual therapy, support groups, or even crisis counseling are available for those who can use support in addressing anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chum suggests LGBTQ individuals \u201cseek out services from providers who are LGBTQ-affirming or of lived experience to prevent further discrimination or stigmatization-related stress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides receiving appropriate care and support, as needed, Chum says, \u201cLGBTQ folks can work towards getting better rest through building a good emotional support system to improve their sense of identity and belonging, and work towards reducing overall stress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great advice for all of us who want to get a good night\u2019s rest, no matter what our sexual orientation might be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more ways to soothe pre-bedtime anxiety, here’s the<\/em> best nighttime routine to help you relax<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Research shows LGB people experience high rates of insomnia and other sleep problems. Here’s what you need to know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":26398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[389,390],"tags":[],"coauthors":[424],"guest":[],"host":[],"class_list":["post-26397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sleep-health","category-sleep-tips"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26397"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=26397"},{"taxonomy":"guest","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/guest?post=26397"},{"taxonomy":"host","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/host?post=26397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}