When it comes to sleep deprivation, men and women are as different as night and day. In this video, sleep specialist Dr. Michael Breus discusses the ways men and women handle the emotional stress of a sleep shortage.
So men and women differ in response to sleep deprivation in a couple of ways. It's interesting. Men have a tendency to try to be more stoic, and try to push themselves through and they try to hold on to their emotions and then over time, you see people explode, you see them get really anxious, really angry things like that where women have a much greater tendency as they're sleep deprived, to be able to kind of let those emotions out.
They still may get emotional, but we find that they are actually better able to handle those pent up emotions than men usually are.
Michael J. Breus, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and a fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. He specializes in sleep disorders and is one of only 163 psychologists in the world with his credentials and distinction.
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