Is yawning contagious? Why is yawning contagious? Well, that subject was brought up as a comment in my last post. So I wondered if it would be a good topic to write about. As it turns out, I’m not really sure it is.
There are almost as many answers to the above question as there are scientists studying the phenomenon. And to put it quite bluntly, the studies were boring and made me yawn. But yes, it seems that for most people yawns are contagious. You can have a yearning to yawn by seeing someone yawn, hearing someone yawn and even reading about yawning. So if you feel like yawning while reading this post, it is because the word yawn is used a lot.
Some fun/interesting things I found out while looking up data on yawning:
1 ) Dogs yawn, dogs will yawn when they see people yawn.
2 ) Chimpanzees yawn.
3 ) It seems that most mammals yawn occasionally, but not all of them will yawn when they see other animals yawn.
4 ) Some birds yawn.
5 ) Snakes yawn after eating to get their jaws back in the right spot.
6 ) Contagious yawning may be linked to the flocking instinct of birds.
7 ) Too much yawning could indicate health problems.
8 ) Most people will yawn if tired.
9 ) Some people yawn if they are too hot.
10 ) Some athletes will yawn just before they need to exert themselves.
Now I think I’m done talking about yawning. I’ve yawned 4 times in the writing of this post. How many times did you yawn while reading it?
Now, I’m going to see if I can make my dog yawn.
I yawned twice while reading, but also suppressed a few – then again, I’m a yawner. What sort of health problems could excessive yawning indicate? I’ve heard that yawning is the brain’s way of getting extra oxygen, but I don’t know if this is true. It makes sense, since my dr. said that my oxygen level went slightly low during my sleep study. Thanks for the info!
(yawned twice more while writing my comment)
@taylhis — the big health problem that jumped out at me was a possible heart attack. Other pages I saw indicated that excessive yawning could be digestive or breathing problems.
Check out this page
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003096.htm
After I wrote this I found that yawning could indicate a stroke, sleep apnea or stress.
I’ve heard about the lack of oxygen theory, as well.
I’ve heard of the yawning because of a lack of oxygen too. I’m not quite sure that’s it’s a theory though since I learned about it in anatomy.
No yawns- but maybe I suppressed one, I don’t know. Oh wait, I just yawned…
I had the urge… but I held out. I think even saying the word “yawn” makes me want to yawn.
I don’t know about making my dog yawn, but apparently he’s susceptible to contagious yoga. I was doing yoga with a friend, and we were in the “downward facing dog”, and he came in to check on us, and drop into the same position!
I’m sitting here at working yawning and I thought of your post. I had to look to see if “being tired” was a reason you listed for being tired. Yes it is. #8. That’s me tonight. One hour, 15 minutes to go……..