More than four centuries after William Shakespeare linked insomnia with feelings of paranoia in his famous play 'Macbeth', scientists have found that lack of a good night's sleep can affect a person's sanity. A study of healthy volunteers and psychiatric patients in Britain, led by King's College London, has revealed a clear link between insomnia and paranoid delusions, the latest issue of the 'Schizophrenia Research' journal reported. Lead researcher Dr Daniel Freeman said: "As most of us know, a few nights of poor sleep can make us feel stressed, muddled in our thinking and disconnected from the world. These are ideal conditions for paranoid fears to take hold. Regular, good quality sleep is important to psychological well-being." The researchers came to the conclusion after analyzing the sleep patterns of a group of people. They questioned those with a history of mental health problems and then compared the results to answers from 300 healthy volunteers. The study revealed that 70 per cent of ordinary people who scored highly for self-reported symptoms of paranoia had difficulty sleeping. More than 50 per cent of the psychiatric patients who all experienced feelings of persecution, suffered from moderate to severe insomnia. "The results were clear - higher levels of insomnia were associated with higher levels of persecutory thinking," the British media quoted the researchers as saying. And, according to Dr Freeman, tackling an inability to sleep could reduce the risk of paranoia. "A good night's sleep may simply make us view the world in a much more positive light," he said. Shakespeare was a step ahead of the psychiatrists when he highlighted the link between insomnia and paranoia in his play 'Macbeth' in which the lead character is unable to sleep after killing the King of Scotland, Duncan.
