More than 8 hours sleep each night is bad for you
Main Category: Sleep / Sleep Disorders / InsomniaArticle Date: 16 Apr 2004 - 0:00 PDT
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opinions'More than 8 hours sleep each night is bad for you'
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| Article opinions: | 17 posts |
According to researchers, more than 8 hours sleep each night is bad for you. We have all known that too little sleep is bad for you, this study suggests that the opposite is also bad.
According to the researchers at the University of California, those who sleep 9-10 hours a night seem to have more problems, ranging from difficulty in falling asleep, staying asleep, plus a whole load of other problems.
It seems that those who sleep eight hours have the least problems. Those who sleep 7 hours each night also had problems falling asleep and waking up feeling full of beans.
Previous studies have focussed on too little sleep. Some previous studies have suggested that too little sleep (less than 7 hours each night) reduces your life expectancy.
In this study, 1004 adults had to answer a sleep questionnaire. The questions asked how many hours they slept each night (it was an ongoing questionnaire), whether they found it easy to fall asleep, did they wake during the night, did they wake up early in the morning and could they not get back to sleep again, did they suffer from fatigue during the day.
Those who slept too much were more likely to experience all the problems on the questionnaire than those who slept eight hours each night.
One of the researchers said that people who sleep too much find it hard to rest at night because they spend too much time in bed. He suggested one way to get rid of insomnia is to spend less time in bed.
He suggested that there might be a link between sleeping long hours and depression.
Visit our sleep / sleep disorders / insomnia section for the latest news on this subject.
MLA
26 May. 2012. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/7333.php>
APA
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/7333.php.
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Visitor Opinions (latest shown first)
I Sleep 9 hours!!
posted by Joan on 5 May 2012 at 2:21 pmI have to agree with the 65 year old! I'm in that age range, and when I worked, I was up at around 7:45 to 8, depending where my job was taking me. Since I was a child, I LOVED sleeping in on the weekends. I am a night person. I watch TV or something else, till about 12:30 a.m., and sometimes as late as 1:30. I try to get myself up by 9:30 and usually do. I'm not married now, and I am not depressed. I'm just retired and love my sleep. I cannot find out why, but I just think that some people need more rest than others. My sister goes to sleep around 9 p.m. and is up around 7 a.m. I just cannot be one of those people who go to bed early! I wonder if my 9 hours is bad for me. I am overweight a bit, and that could be one reason, but what was the reason when I was a little girl???!!! Just doesn't fit.
Depression?
posted by Sarah on 28 Mar 2012 at 9:57 pmAll I ever heard about the depression, is that people who are depressed tend to sleep longer. Not the other way.. They don't get depressed from sleeping longer. They're depressed, so it relieves the pain of living a day by just sleeping it away. I do believe people that sleep more often are depressed, but not because of sleeping more often.
is bad
posted by MAOKA FRANS on 28 Mar 2012 at 12:21 amWhen i wake i will feel that am weak
Not right about sleep
posted by -emmie- on 6 Jan 2012 at 5:17 pmWell, I don't think that sleeping 7 hours will shorten your life expectancy and I don't think sleeping 9 hours will give you depression! I'm under 18 and just slept 10 and a half hours! Don't believe everything you read on the Internet!!
10 Hrs Is Ok
posted by Cassie on 20 Nov 2011 at 9:55 amI get ten hours of sleep a day -if not more in the Autumn and winter times. I feel fine and I've had MDD or major depressive disorder in the past so I know what it is and how it feels. I have none of those symptoms now... The whole eight hour thing is just another example of Dr.'s generalizing or averaging a need and then it gets carried away through word of mouth. 8 hours isn't the exact amount of sleep every person needs every night. I get ten hours of sleep most days and I'm fine. Just saying, it's nice to actually hear sometimes. All this talk of and quantifying 'normal behavior' just makes the general public fearful of being labeled as outcasts.
Rubbish...I sometimes sleep ten hours a day
posted by Jamie on 19 Nov 2011 at 6:18 ami sometimes sleep 10 hours a day, yes maybe i wake up with a headache but i have no trouble going back to sleep as im up for nearly 12 - 15 hours after that. Just takes me 10 mins to fall asleep then thats me til morning, also only time i cant get to sleep is if i have something the next day, new gun, game, or going airsofting ect.
sleepyhead
posted by Tammy on 15 Aug 2011 at 8:33 amI few years ago I took some time off from working and decided not to use an alarm clock, and let my body sleep until it wants to wake up. I sleep 9-10 hours on an average. I am healthy (as far as I know) and very happy. I have a doc appt. in a few days, I am going to inquire on this. I wish my body only wanted 5-6 hrs. of sleep, I would rather be living life than sleeping, but it's what my body wants.
Yes, it's all about one's attitute
posted by Chris on 7 Aug 2011 at 7:21 amYou are absolutely right! It's all in the attitude. I AM married...took me 4 tries to find the right one. Now I am a very happily married 60 yr old, who sleeps 9 or 10 hours every night.
I eat a very healthy diet; hemp, flax, and many other good grains, ect.
WHAT is so wrong with sleeping 10 hours a night???
Oh, and I work about 22 hours a week, have a wonderful garden, love to cook.
So, there IS nothing wrong with sleeping longer than the so-called averaged person. It's all in the attitude!!!
oops worried....
posted by worriedperson on 29 Jul 2011 at 5:43 pmThis is worrying. I sleep roughly 12 hours (lucky me) its hard to fall asleep, i don't wake up during the night but I am very depressive. Thinking about getting myself an alarm clock instead of my sister waking me up :)
Who knew...
posted by Daniel on 24 Jul 2011 at 4:46 pmTime to set the alarm!
Not exactly
posted by Katerina on 14 May 2011 at 11:23 pmI'm sorry but i just cannot function every day if i don't get at least 10 hours of sleep, when i do i feel energized and refreshed, when i have less i barely make it to 2 or 1pm
9 to 10 hours sleep a night
posted by M. Murphy on 8 Feb 2011 at 1:12 pmI went to the dr. as I was concerned I was sleeping too much. She took blood and told me she wished everyone had such a good blood workup. She told me to sleep when I was tired and not to worry about it. Of course I did not believe her. I read that just before heart attacks your body requires excessive amounts of sleep. Time will tell.
I sleep 12 hours
posted by Gabriela on 24 Oct 2010 at 1:06 pmMaybe the fact that I'm 17 I can sleep this much. I only do it on weekends though. I stay busy through out the week. I can sleep all day if i want to. When I'm sleeping those 12 hours i never wake up, until i want to wake up. I don't suffer from obesity, depression, or anxiety. If i want to sleep at 7pm i can fall asleep right away. I'm really good at sleeping. During the week i get the maximum of 7 hours of sleep. I don't think any of this is true to everyone, I personally believe it depends on the person, i mean if you eat bad food all day and then go to sleep, BINGO your begin to get obesity. And the whole depression thing, you would think you'd get it from the people around you because you're not happy living among them and yet they say you get it because you sleep? wierd. I totally disagree with sleeping too much is bad. I personally think it's good, I'm never tired throughout the day. And i can sleep more later the night.
Miss
posted by jwtx on 29 Sep 2010 at 2:51 pmI sleep 8 hours an 15 minutes is that bad for me?
Oh Really? It's a question of attitude
posted by A Sleeper on 10 Aug 2010 at 10:02 amI sleep 10 hours when I need it, or want it which is most days. I have not used an alarm clock for 10 years and I find it reduces stress. And I suffer from none of the symptoms mentioned. I am not depressed, not do I take any medicines. I have no heart problems, nor do I have any diseases that most people my age, 65 have. So where do I fit in? ?
I think the hours slept depends on the individual needs. I also eat when I want and what I want. I am not married. There is a joke, "why do husbands die sooner than wives?" The answer: because they WANT to.
For all its benefits, marriage is stressful. Of all the things that cause stress and depression, and illness, in our society, lack of money is #1. It is not what happenes to you that counts most, the important thing is how you deal with it. Attitude, will, purpose and belief can keep a mortally wounded man or beast alive, and even heal. Doctors call it a miracle or the will to survive. They don't understand it. Its your attitude stupid!
long sleep
posted by varsha on 16 Jul 2010 at 11:30 pmya i experience several problems when i sleep more than 9 hours and my doctor advised me to wake up early and breathe fresh air and sleep less than i usually do and it really works.
Long sleep + depression link
posted by rene on 16 Apr 2004 at 4:27 pmDo studies prove that people that sleep long hours, may suffer from depression or do all people who sleep long hours suffer from depression? If this is true, then, does this mean that the thousands of people who sleep long hours suffer from depression?
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