“I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” That is a phrase that I hear a lot from my friends who are up all night and have work early in the morning, which usually means they get anywhere between two to five hours of sleep every night. And then I have other friends who can sleep for over 12 hours, which becomes rarer with more responsibilities and less time to actually sleep in.
But believe it or not, sleeping too much and sleeping too little can both result in a shorter life . According to a study done by the National Sleep Foundation, people who have slept the average seven hours a night lived longer than those who slept under six hours or more than nine hours.
How much sleep do you actually need? According to Daniel Kripke, co-director of research at the Scripps Clinic Sleep Center in California, the average has been lowered from eight hours to anywhere between 6.5 and 7.5 hours. Of course that amount of can be different for each individual based on age, lifestyle, and health.
Sleep deprivation can also lead to other health risks like obesity, depression, and heart problems. The same problems can also be linked to oversleeping. These risks can make us anxious about the amount of sleep we are getting to be healthy, and in turn, anxiety can enhance our lack of sleep. It’s a vicious cycle that I question how much control you really do have of the amount of sleep you get each night.
So how much sleep do you actually need? I say sleep as much as you think you need, because you know your body the best. Think about how you feel when you over sleep or sleep less and then compare it to how you feel sleeping eight hours. Determine how you function at work or with your family. And then see how you feel at night. At what time do you start to feel tired and how long does it take you to fall asleep? But most importantly, take the time you do have to sleep to relax and enjoy the few (or many) hours you have to rest.
