Health science has, for years, bounced back and forth on eggs. We’ll go through periods where the common wisdom is that eggs are great for you…and then head winds change, and you should avoid them if you want to live longer.That, it seems, is what’s happening with the idea of partners in a relationship going to bed angry, as common wisdom dictates that you shouldn’t go to bed with all that unresolved heaviness weighing on your subconscious. According to actual professionals who study human behavior for a living, that rule might be doing more harm than good.Speaking with CNN, clinical psychologist Samantha Whiten represents a growing movement within the psychological community that says forcing late-night resolutions usually means arguing while tired, or drunk, or emotionally fried. You’re not in your best headspace and more prone to saying yet another dumb thing that will spin the argument off in a whole new, completely unconstructive direction.Instead, partners should HALT. Literally, as in, stop the whole argument dead in its tracks to pick it up when you’re both well rested and in a proper headspace. But halt is also an acronym meaning Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. These are the conditions in which relationship fights should not occur. Each of those feelings can contribute to the heightening of an argument.Wanting closure before sleep isn’t bad. It’s just not realistic. Fighting while emotionally dysregulated turns partners into opponents, neither of whom is performing at their mental peak. Whiten, along with fellow psychologist Sabrina Romanoff, recommends a healthier move: calling a time-out and picking it all up again later, when everyone has gotten some shut-eye.The pause isn’t about avoiding a necessary conversation as much as it’s about trusting that you and your partner will pick up this conversation again later when you’re both more mentally equipped to handle it, when emotions aren’t running high, and when it’s past bedtime and the brains of everyone involved are already in low-power mode as they transition into sleep.To prevent these kinds of arguments from even happening in the first place, Romanoff suggests a little preventative maintenance by checking in with your partner daily, but on a deeper emotional level than just your run-of-the-mill “how was your day?” dinner questions. Actually digging into your partner’s mental and emotional state during casual conversation could help release tensions before they build up to full-blown pre-bedtime arguments that will keep you both up deep into the night.Whether both partners involved have the emotional maturity to do that is another matter altogether. That might take some growing up and maturing. But if shelving your discussions/arguments until later is to become the new gospel, then maybe the pithy “never go to bed angry” should be changed to something like “never go to bed without a rain check.”The post Go to Bed Angry at Your Partner. It’s Fine, Psychologists Say. appeared first on VICE.