Gay and bisexual people have more trouble sleeping, study reveals
Gay and bisexual people have more trouble sleeping, a study has revealed.
Researchers at the National Centre for Health Statistics in the US used National Health Interview Survey data of more than 100,000 men and women over two years.
The statistics showed that LGB people suffer from a lack of sleep quality.
Gay men encounter more problems falling asleep, while lesbians were more likely to have more trouble staying asleep than their straight counterparts.
But it seems bisexual women have it the worst, dealing with more issues both in terms of drifting off and when it comes to staying that way.
Bi women are also six percentage points less likely than straight women to get the amount of sleep recommended by the National Sleep Foundation.
And, as if that wasn’t enough, the majority of bi women wake up not feeling well-rested more often than not.
No other group suffers to this extent.
Gay men and lesbians are more likely to use medication in pursuit of more sleep.
And gay men are also more likely to wake up not feeling well rested, when compared to both straight and bi men.
The study concludes that it has discovered “evidence that gay men, lesbians and bisexual women report poorer sleep quality than their straight counterparts.
“Seeking to better understand these differences may help identify why certain sexual orientation groups are at risk for poorer sleep quality,” the authors continue.
They add that the study could “perhaps provide an understanding of how to assist in improving overall health among sexual minority groups.”
Another LGBT-focused study last week identified genes which are significantly more common in gay men.
This finding reaffirmed the decades-old scientific theory that sexual orientation in men is genetic.
The researcher scanned subjects’ entire genomes looking for differences in their DNA, and found two gene variants which seem to be connected to their sexual orientation.
They noted that there have also been studies which suggest homosexuality in women is also genetic.
