A new study from Florida shows that a “significant deterioration” in physical and mental health is evident after three consecutive nights of poor sleep.

From a sample of nearly 2,000 American adults who completed sleep diaries, experts found that symptoms worsen after just one night of poor sleep, but peak after three nights. In terms of mental health, participants reported accumulating feelings of anger, nervousness, loneliness, irritability and frustration as a result of the lack of sleep.

Meanwhile, physical symptoms from lack of sleep included aches and pains and even breathing problems.

The study was conducted by experts at the University of South Florida’s School of Aging Studies, based in Tampa.

The team investigated the consequences of sleeping less than six hours for eight consecutive nights. Six hours tends to be the minimum recommended sleep duration to support optimal health for adults. The optimal sleep duration tends to vary by age group.

“Many of us think we can make up for our sleep on weekends and be more productive on weekdays,” said lead study author Sumi Lee.

However, the results of this study show that a lack of sleep for just one night can significantly impair daily functioning.

The researchers used data provided by the US Midlife Study, a national longitudinal study of health and well-being funded by the National Institute on Aging.

The sample included 1958 middle-aged adults, all of whom were relatively healthy and well-educated, who provided daily data for eight consecutive days.

The researchers found that the biggest jump in mental and physical symptoms appeared after just one night of poor sleep. But the number of problems steadily worsened throughout the three-day period, peaking on the third day.

At this point, the human body becomes relatively accustomed to frequent sleep loss, according to the team.

However, participants reported that the severity of their physical symptoms was at its worst after six days, and included upper respiratory problems, aches, digestive problems and other health problems.

Once getting less than six hours a night becomes a habit, it becomes increasingly difficult for your body to fully recover from a lack of sleep, according to Lee.

In their paper, published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, the team said: “Consequent lack of sleep has been associated with deterioration in daily emotional and physical health pathways. Efforts to break the vicious cycle of sleep loss may protect the daily well-being of adults whose bedtime is often compromised.”

A previous study led by Lee and colleagues, published in 2019, found that losing just 16 minutes of sleep can affect function.

The study found that adults who slept 16 minutes less than usual were characterized by poor judgment and problems concentrating at work.