Cameron Diaz wants to "normalize separate bedrooms." Here's what to know about "sleep divorce."

Cameron Diaz doesn't think love should get in the way of a good night of sleep. 

"We should normalize separate bedrooms," the actress said in an interview on the "Lipstick on the Rim" podcast this month. Diaz, 51, is married to Benji Madden of the band Good Charlotte.

"To me, I would literally — I have my house, you have yours. 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," she said. "And we have the bedroom in the middle that we can convene in for our relations."

Diaz isn't alone in liking the idea of a bed or even bedroom to herself. 

Whether it's getting disturbed by snoring, stolen covers during the night, or differing schedules waking you up before your alarm, more people are turning to "sleep divorce," the practice of sleeping separately, to avoid sleep troubles because of a partner.

According to a survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, more than a third of Americans say they occasionally or consistently sleep in another room from their partner.

For those looking for a better night's sleep, experts say there can be potential benefits.

"There are benefits for some partners to sleep separately," Dr. Erin Flynn-Evans, a consultant to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, told CBS News earlier this year. "Studies demonstrate that when one bed partner has a sleep disorder it can negatively affect the other sleeper. For example, bed partners tend to wake up at the same time when one has insomnia. Similarly, when bed partners differ in chronotype, like when one is a night owl the other is an early bird, these differing sleep preferences can negatively impact both partners' sleep."

Dr. Daniel Shade, a sleep specialist with Allegheny Health Network, previously told CBS Pittsburgh if couples are honest with themselves, they'll likely know whether there's a problem.

"You're snoring and you're thrashing about, (it) disturbs your partner, or you're getting up at 4 a.m. to go to work, or you have to use the bathroom many times in a night, and that can get disruptive," Shade said, adding that differing preferences in light, temperature or even TV usage at night can also affect sleep.

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But, if there are no sleep problems, Shade said, "by all means, sleeping in the same bed is better."

"We release oxytocin and some other chemicals that are called 'the cuddling hormones' and things that give us a good feeling and bring us closer to that person we're imprinting upon that we're with," he said.

In:
• Sleep

Sara Moniuszko

Sara Moniuszko is a health and lifestyle reporter at CBSNews.com. Previously, she wrote for USA Today, where she was selected to help launch the newspaper's wellness vertical. She now covers breaking and trending news for CBS News' HealthWatch.

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