Lack of getting a goodnight's sleep can make people look unattractive, sad and unhealthy, researchers revealed.
The study reported in the journal Sleep found that poor sleeping habits left a negative impact on eyes, mouth and skin, The Atlantic, reported.
For the study, Tina Sundelin from the University of Stockholm in Sweden and her colleagues selected 10 participants and 40 observers.
Researchers took 20 mug shots of the participants at two different situations - when they had a regular night's sleep (eight hours) and after 31 hours of sleep deprivation, plus five hours of night sleep.
The observers were asked to analyse and rate different features, including sadness and weakness exhibited in the photos.
Individuals when photographed after the sleep deprivation experiment had paler skin, more wrinkles, droopy mouth corners, hanging eyelids, redder and swollen eyes and darker circles under the eyes. Apart from that, observers reported that the sleep-deprived individuals looked sad and tired.
"Since faces contain a lot of information on which humans base their interactions with each other, how fatigued a person appears may affect how others behave toward them," Sundelin, said in a press release.
Sound sleep has a crucial role in the mental, physical and emotional health of adults and children. According to the Sleep Foundation, adults aged 18 and above should get seven to nine hours of sleep, and school children and teenagers should get at least 10-11 hours and 8.5 to 9.25 hours, respectively. According to them, short sleep durations can lead to accidents on the road, obesity, diabetes and heart problems.
In addition, lack of sleep can invite many mental problems, including depression and affect memory and concentration.
There exists solid data to explain why we need the recommended level of sleep every day. A study published recently in The Journal of Neuroscience found that sound sleep increased production of brain support cells and myelin, which is important for brain growth and repair.
