Elizabeth Pearson and her husband, Ryan Pearson, have been married for 16 years, and for half of that time, they've slept in separate bedrooms.
Ryan on one occasion punched Elizabeth in the face while she was sleeping. "Waking up angry with him every morning was causing a rift in the relationship."
The couple now share a six-bedroom, four-bathroom Mediterranean home in California, which they bought in 2017 for $1.5 million.
Now, Ryan sleeps on the first floor, and Elizabeth sleeps on the second, each in a bedroom with an en-suite bathroom. And their marriage is thriving.
Like the Pearsons, many couples today are opting for a "bedroom divorce," rather than going the typical marital route of sharing a bed. According to a survey conducted in March 2023 by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 35% of Americans sleep in separate rooms occasionally or constantly. The split sleeping trend is nothing new
Sleep expert Wendy Troxel said couples have been sleeping apart for centuries. She said that sleeping apart doesn't necessarily mean a couple has relationship problems. "It's more about how couples come to the decision to sleep apart," she said.
