Couples should ideally sleep apart, experts agree
For many couples, sharing a bed is normal—but people should consider sleeping apart for the good of their health and relationship, experts say. In fact, the modern tradition of bed sharing only began with the industrial revolution, when people moved into cities and found themselves sharing cramped quarters, sleep specialist Dr. Neil Stanley (who sleeps apart from his wife) told the British Science Festival, according to the BBC. In Victorian times, unmarried couples generally slept apart; in ancient Rome, the bed was a place for sex, not sleeping. One study found that couples that share a bed suffer an average of 50 per cent more sleep disturbances. Even so, only 8 per cent of people in their 40s and 50s sleep in separate rooms. “People actually feel that they sleep better when they are with a partner but the evidence suggests otherwise,” Dr. Robert Meadows, a sociologist with the University of Surrey, said.