The researchers discovered that children who consistently slept fewer hours had a roughly four-fold increased risk of experiencing a psychotic episode and a more than two-fold increased risk of developing a psychotic condition in early adulthood. According to a recent study, children who suffer from chronic sleep deprivation from an early age may be more likely to have psychosis in their early adult years. A large cohort study of children between the ages of six months and seven years old provided data on the duration of sleep at night that researchers from the University of Birmingham analysed.
Throughout this time, they discovered that children who consistently slept fewer hours had a roughly four-fold increased risk of experiencing a psychotic episode and a more than two-fold increased risk of developing a psychotic condition in early adulthood. While previous research has highlighted links between sleep problems and psychosis at specific time points, this is the first study to show that persistent lack of sleep is a strong predictor of psychosis. Lead author, Dr Isabel Morales-Munoz, said: "It's entirely normal for children to suffer from sleep problems at different points in their childhood, but it's also important to know when it might be time to seek help.
Sometimes sleep can become a persistent and chronic problem, and this is where we see links with psychiatric illness in adulthood. The good news is that we know that it is possible to improve our sleep patterns and b.
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