Is it just ME

Or does sleep loss make you a monster, too?

AFTER a third night of road resurfacing outside my bedroom window (the council’s diggers left at 2am), I was barely human. Living on a busy, urban street I’m used to late-night music and lively pub chat, but this was in a different league.

Next day, the phone rang at 8am. It was a posh lady fundraiser, wanting me to increase my direct debit to their charity. I’m ashamed to recall my expletiveladen reply. What sort of monster had I become?

But it’s not my fault. Blame science.

According to research by the Centre for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley, sleepless nights make people more selfish and anti-social. Losing even one hour of rest reduces the ‘innate desire’ of humans to help others.

Well, what a relief. There is a deep shame to being sleep-deprived. It makes you angry, clumsy and fat

The desire to help others is in short supply when you’re shattered

(all those extra carbs you need to keep going). You feel like you’re living in a parallel universe to all the happy, shiny people who slept well. Woe betide anyone who asks for a favour.

But it might not be our fault. It turns out inadequate sleep harms our mental and physical wellbeing.

The Berkeley team performed brain scans on sleep-deprived participants and found a short night is associated with reduced activity in the social cognitive brain network — a region involved in social behaviour. Results revealed a 78 per cent decline in ‘self-reported eagerness’ to help others when tired.

Dear God, yes, selfreported eagerness to help others is very much in short supply when you’re shattered. Back off, charity lady. You picked the wrong insomniac!

There’s a moral here. If you want co-operative societies, who believe in altruism, don’t drill at 2am.