Which sleeper are you? New study reveals 5 major sleep patterns — how they are shaping your health

The Sleep Sprinter, the 3 a.m. Doomscroller, the Human Snooze Button — we’re all familiar with these archetypes of sleep deprivation.

You probably already know that inadequate sleep can raise your risk of chronic health problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity, but how can it affect your personality?

A team of international researchers set out to explore how sleep experiences are reflected in health, behavior and brain activity.

They analyzed data from 770 young adults, examining everything from their use of sleep aids to MRI scans of their brains and their performance on memory tests, to devise five distinct profiles linking sleep habits to biological, psychological and social traits.

“Sleep is made up of many dimensions, not just how long we sleep,” said Aurore Perrault of Concordia University in Canada.

“Our study showed that different aspects of sleep are related, but can also be separable domains with specific connections to biopsychosocial factors (lifestyle, mental and physical health and cognitive performances).”

The findings were published Tuesday in PLOS Biology.

Here’s a look at the characteristics of the five major types of sleepers.

If you don’t sleep long enough …

Experts recommend adults sleep seven to nine hours a night, though many Americans don’t hit the mark.

Perrault’s team found that snoozing less than six to seven hours nightly can result in aggressive behavior, troubles with emotional processing and a tendency not to put others’ needs first.

If you wake up a lot in the middle of the night…

Sleep is essential for clearing brain toxins — constant disruptions threaten this process.

The researchers linked nighttime awakenings to troubles with language processing and memory, anxiety, aggressive behavior and substance abuse.

If you suffer from poor sleep all around…

You have a hard time falling asleep, your sleep is often disturbed, you’re tired in the daytime.

Sleep deprivation is terrible for mental health. That’s why this sleep type is likely to experience depression, anxiety, anger, neuroticism and stress.

If you take a sleeping pill…

Nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) admitted to using some type of sleep aid — like prescription drugs, melatonin or marijuana — in a 2022 survey.

The good news is that consuming these substances was tied to satisfaction in social relationships.

The bad news is that it can be bad for memory and the ability to recognize the emotional needs of others.

If you suffer from daytime drowsiness, but sleep pretty well…

There are many reasons why someone might feel tired during the day, even if they sleep well at night, including sleep apnea, anemia, a vitamin deficiency or medication use.

Sadly, struggling to function in the daytime is not good for mental health.

Researchers linked it to attention problems (like inattention and ADHD), stress, fear, anger, depression and the inability to be conscientious.