Yawning can feel so good at times, but it can be pretty inconvenient (think: during a work presentation or when your friend is telling you about their breakup). Yawning can also be annoying, especially when it seems to happen contagiously and your entire friend group has come down with a case of the yawns.
That said, yawning is completely normal in most cases, and people yawn for a number of reasons, including social response. But how can you tell if the amount you yawn is normal? What triggers yawning to begin with? And is yawning actually contagious? We tapped experts to weigh in.
Experts Featured in This Article:
Teofilo Lee Chiong, MD, is a sleep medicine specialist at National Jewish Health.
Neha Pathak, MD, is the chief physician editor at WebMD.
What Causes Yawning?
Experts haven’t pinpointed a single reason for yawning, but there are a few theories on triggers.
Lack of Sleep: One obvious cause of constantly yawning is lack of sleep. Even if you think you’ve gotten enough hours, the quality of your sleep matters, says Teofilo Lee Chiong, MD, chief medical liaison of sleep and respiratory care at Philips.
Yawning may occur also if you’re experiencing daytime fatigue, either from inadequate sleep or an untreated sleep disorder, such as sleep apnea. Maintaining a regular sleep schedule, obtaining a sufficient duration of sleep each night (seven to eight hours is recommended), and addressing any causes of sleep disturbance, are important, says Dr. Lee-Chiong said.
Dr. Pathak agrees, noting that it’s important to remember that “good” sleep is a matter of quality as much as quantity. So just because you sleep for seven to eight hours doesn’t mean the quality was good. “For example, drinking a lot of alcohol before sleep can decrease sleep quality, making you tired the next day and more likely to yawn,” she says.
Boredom: If tiredness and fatigue isn’t the issue, boredom can also cause yawning. We may yawn more during periods when we are doing mundane tasks, Dr. Pathak says, so yawning may work to increase arousal, or wake up our brains.
Social response: Some theories suggest that yawning plays a social role in groups, says Dr. Pathak. This is why yawning gets a reputation for being contagious (or yawning when you see others yawn). It shows you are in tune with others in your group. “Some studies have shown that people who are more likely to have a contagious yawn have higher levels of empathy,” Dr. Pathak says.
Pre-existing conditions: There are some conditions associated with abnormal yawning or yawning so much that it interferes with your day-to-day activities. For example, multiple sclerosis can be associated with yawning, more than four times a minute in some studies, Dr. Pathak says. People with Parkinson’s disease can also have an increased amount of yawning. These conditions are thought to increase yawning because of damage to certain parts of the brainstem.
How to Prevent Yawning So Much
Yawning is completely normal. Most of us yawn more in the morning when we wake up and in the evening before we go to sleep, Dr. Pathak says. Since lack of sleep can cause yawning, Dr. Pathak also suggests prioritizing a good night’s rest both in quantity and quality. That said, if you find yawning is interfering with your daily activities, happening multiple times a minute, or impacting your quality of life, you should talk to your doctor about it.
Jenny Sugar is a former PS staff writer. She reports on all things fitness, but especially loves CrossFit and yoga.
