Insomniacs, cover hogs and night owls, oh my!
While most love stories end with the 'happily ever after' of blissful cohabitation, the reality is that compatible sleeping is often an impossible dream: many otherwise made-for-each-other lovers have basic incompatibilities when it comes to sleep styles. In fact, according to one survey, more than a quarter of cohabitating adults in the U.S. report that their partner's sleep problems -- everything from sleep talking to late night TV watching -- negatively affect the quality of their shut-eye.
Sleep-deprived couples often end up crankier, more reactive and even unhealthier than their well-rested counterparts -- not exactly the makings of relationship harmony. "So much of our sleep is just never discussed," says Phillip Gehrman, PhD, CBSM, clinical director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at the University of Pennsylvania. "A lot of times just getting it out in the open and talking about it can make a huge difference."
So let's start the conversation with this handy infographic. Choose your sleep type and check these tips for "re-making" your bed, with advice from the dream team: Gehrman, Stuart Quan, M.D., professor of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School and senior physician at the Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Russell Rosenberg, Ph.D., HuffPost blogger, CEO of Atlanta School of Sleep Medicine and chairman of the board of the National Sleep Foundation.
Graphic by: Chris Spurlock