Sleep deprivation can harm your psychological health

Sleep - an activity that takes up a third of our lives - is central to many essential biological processes.

- 

When disrupted, the effects on health are immediately felt, particularly on the brain, which becomes less able to filter out intrusive thoughts, according to a study from scientists in the UK.

In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a British research team highlights the importance of sleep in maintaining our mental well-being.

A good night's sleep is thought to help the brain control intrusive thoughts, those unexpected and often disturbing ideas that arise without warning, and often out of context.

Researchers demonstrated this in an experiment involving 85 healthy adults.

Half of them had a healthy night's sleep, while the other half stayed awake all night.