Never go to Bed Angry

"'Never go to bed Angry': Sleep Makes it Harder to Forget Bad Thoughts

by: Agata Blaszczak-Boxe

     Each night when someone goes to sleep, their mind processes and stores the happenings of that day into their memory. If something bad happens, such as a fight with your significant other, and you go to bed angry it will be difficult for you to forget those bad thoughts and memories later down the road. In a study conducted by Yunzhe Liu, a PhD student in neuroscience at University College London. Basically, the researchers showed participants images of dead bodies, injured people and some pictures that were not bad along with a facial expression to associate those images with. The participants were then suppose to try and forget the images when they were shown the facial expressions. They were nine percent less likely to recall the terrible images compared to the other images that were not so bad. When the participants were asked to sleep on it and come back, and when shown the pictures it was even more challenging for them to forget the negative images. In extreme cases, this could lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

     I feel enlightened after reading this article. I have heard the saying, "never go to bed angry," but I never thought it could actually become a problem. I am also educated on the role sleep has with our memory, though I knew it was involved, I didn't realize it could make such an impact.