A sleep divorce might save you from a marital one.
Cameron Diaz says it should be “normalized” for married couples to have separate bedrooms — and sleep experts and many couples agree.
The 51-year-old “Charlie’ Angels” star, who has been married to Good Charlotte guitarist Benji Madden since 2015, made the declaration during a recent appearance on the “Lipstick on the Rim” podcast.
“To me, I would literally, I have my house, you have yours,” she said. “We have the family house in the middle. I will go and sleep in my room. You go sleep in your room. I’m fine.”
“And we have the bedroom in the middle that we can convene in for our relations,” the actress added.
And while most couples can’t afford multiple homes, Diaz isn’t the only one wanting to sleep alone while together.
More than one-third of Americans have filed for a sleep divorce, according to a survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) of more than 2,000 adults.
Many couples struggle to get a good night’s sleep together fumbling with earplugs, eye masks, silent alarms and different bedtimes, before eventually opting for separate bedrooms.
“We know that poor sleep can worsen your mood, and those who are sleep deprived are more likely to argue with their partners,” Dr. Seema Khosla, a pulmonologist and spokesperson for the AASM, said in a statement.
“Getting a good night’s sleep is important for both health and happiness, so it’s no surprise that some couples choose to sleep apart for their overall well-being,” she added.
Sleep divorces have become increasingly popular with the hashtag #sleepdivorce attracting 1.6 million views on TikTok as people share how the sleeping arrangement has helped their marriage.
Mara and Christopher Doemland were constantly “at each other’s throats” until they quit sleeping together.
Mara, 30, a stay-at-home mom with five kids ranging in age from two months to 10 years, was constantly cranky, claiming a lack of sleep caused by her husband’s snoring.
Meanwhile, Christopher, 37, a work-from-home crypto day trader, was tired of getting hit to hush all night.
So the two decided to split — and headed for separate bedrooms.
“Sleeping separately has totally improved our relationship,” Mara, from Corpus Christi, Tx., told The Post. “We’re both so much happier.
“Now, there’s more physical touch and closeness between us during the day because we’re not grumpy from trying to sleep together at night.”
Manhattan sex and marriage therapist Megan Fleming told The Post that a sleep divorce can benefit any twosome.
“Getting a good night’s sleep is so important for both partners in a marriage,” she said, noting the positive impact restorative rest has on each person’s energy, mood and overall health.
“If someone’s snoring, has a noisy CPAP machine (a device that keeps breathing airways open during sleep) or keeps an odd sleeping schedule,” Fleming continued, “it can cause resentment between the two people.”
Fleming also said getting some solo shut-eye not only helps otherwise happy couples avoid bedtime tension, but it can also assist in steaming things up when the honeys do decide to hit the sheets together.
“Couples who have a sleep divorce can see it as an opportunity to create some playfulness around intimacy,” she said.
“They can flirt more during the day, take turns visiting each other’s room [for sex] and really become intentional about making that physical connection a priority.”
