Who Shares Your Bed Has A Huge Impact on Your Life
OK, that headline actually is brought to Healthbolt’s well-no-shit-department or Mininoshit depending on your Orwellian tendences. (Mine run high these days.)
The story is a neat-o peace in the NY Times about a scientist who has gotten very interested in who we share a bed with and how that affects our lives. He had an epiphany about it when he had to share a bed with his son on a family outing and it ruined the whole next day. Excerpt:
For “Two in a Bed,” Dr. Rosenblatt interviewed 42 couples. Most of them were married heterosexual couples but some were unmarried hetero- or homosexual couples. Intimacy and comfort were the primary reasons couples gave for sleeping together.
“Some mentioned sex, but not a lot,” Dr. Rosenblatt said. Most reported that the bed is where they talked. “The bed is where they found privacy and were able to leave behind the distractions and separate interests that keep them apart during the day. There’s also something about late night that allowed them to open up and connect.”
Several interviewees reported that difficulty sleeping together or sleeping apart had led to the dissolution of previous marriages, and that sleeping together was essential to maintaining their relationships. Dr. Rosenblatt found that it might also save lives.
“It surprised me how many people thought they were alive today because they shared a bed,” Dr. Rosenblatt said.
For example, he said a woman’s seizure was noticed immediately by her husband with whom she spooned every night. Similar stories came from couples where one partner had a heart attack, stroke or went into diabetic shock.
It also talks about things like how much impact sharing a bed with someone can have on how you grieve. He found many couples would hold each other at night and cry. I found it really interesting that couples (grieveing or not) perceive their beds as an oasis away from their different interests and responsibilities for the day. It makes total sense once pointed out but I hadn’t thought about it like that.
Big spoon’s always cold after the jump!
People Who Share a Bed – New York Times (pops)
Two in a Bed: The Social System of Couple Bed Sharing
[tags] sleeping, partners, habits, psychology [/tags]
