1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Sleep

Discussion in 'Physical & Sexual Health' started by Steam Giant, Nov 13, 2007.

  1. Steam Giant

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2007
    Messages:
    1,302
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Northeastern Pennsylvania, USA
    I'm sorry if this thread has already been posted before (it seems familiar) but I kinda need to know, and I don't feel like digging around for it.

    How little sleep can a person my age get by on and for it to still be "healthy?" I've heard it's 4 hours for adults. And what happens when you go below that amount habitually? Or skip days of sleep habitually?

    Thanks ^^
     
  2. Hydrogen

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2007
    Messages:
    331
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Florida
    I don't know what is considered normal, and I by all means do not have a normal sleep schedule. I figure, as long as I can function normally the next day, without getting lethargic, that I'm fine. I can get by with 3-4 hours, however I feel better throughout the day with 5, and if I can I go for 6 hours, anything over that has no effect on how I feel.
     
  3. beckyg

    beckyg Guest

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2007
    Messages:
    6,656
    Likes Received:
    6
    Location:
    Middle of Oregon
    Gender:
    Female
    Sexual Orientation:
    Straight
    4 Hours for Adults? I don't think so. Here is an article from WebMD on sleep. Looks like you should be getting at least 6 to 8.

    How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?

    Although many factors influence how much sleep you really need, the common recommendation is eight hours a night. But individual needs vary greatly. By Michael Breus, PhD, D, ABSM
    WebMD Feature Reviewed By Stuart Meyers, MD

    Although many factors influence how much sleep you really need, most young adults report sleeping about seven and a half hours on weekday nights and eight and a half hours on weekend nights. And the common recommendation is eight hours a night. But individual needs vary greatly. There are so-called short-sleepers and long-sleepers -- those who need as little as five and a half hours to as much as about nine and a half hours.

    How much sleep you require depends on several factors including:

    Your inherited genetic need
    Your sleep hygiene (those daily activities you control, from drinking coffee or alcohol to smoking and exercise)
    The quality of your sleep
    Your 24-hour daily cycle known as the circadian rhythm
    For example, smoking, drinking, and exercise can affect your sleep dramatically. What you actually do in bed (like reading or watching TV) and how much exposure to light you have (looking at that bright computer screen 'til midnight) will also significantly alter both the quality and quantity of your sleep. They all interact to determine how long you need to sleep to wake up feeling refreshed and remain alert throughout the day.

    How did we get the age-old recommendation that we need a solid eight hours of sleep? In a classic study, researchers placed a volunteer in windowless, light-controlled room for 30 days. The light was on for 16 hours and off for eight hours, but the study participant could also turn the lights on and off at will.

    Before the experiment began, the subject routinely got about six and a half hours of sleep. During the first night of the experiment he slept eight hours, the second night 10 hours, the third night 12 hours, and the fourth night 14 hours. Over the next several days, he began to reduce the number of hours slept, eventually falling to a steady eight hours and 13 minutes. This experiment was performed repeatedly with all types of people, with similar results, and this is where the recommendation of eight hours comes from.

    Your Sleep Debt

    OK, so how do you determine how much sleep you really need?

    First, let's look at your bank account -- your sleep bank account, that is -- and see if you have a debt to pay. Throughout the day, you take out about eight hours from this account, generating a sleep debt. Over the course of the night, as you snooze, you replenish your account. If you sleep only, say, six and a half hours, you still owe one and a half hours. If you do this for five nights in a row, you have lost an entire night's sleep! You will then need extra sleep over the next few days to replenish your sleep debt.

    How much sleep do you get -- do you have a sleep debt? Do this simple test: Starting on a Sunday, do not drink alcohol or caffeine; do not smoke; go to sleep about the same time every night; and get an uninterrupted seven to eight hours of sleep for the next six nights. Then, on Saturday morning, sleep in. See how long your body will let you sleep. If you sleep longer than you did during the week -- then you have a sleep debt. So you should consider getting more sleep each night to replenish that sleep debt. Hey, not so easy, you say. Well, give it a try and do the best you can. Why?

    Not getting the proper amount of and the best quality sleep may have serious consequences. Many studies have shown that sleep deprivation adversely affects performance and alertness. Reducing sleep by as little as one and a half hours for just one night reduces daytime alertness by about one-third. Excessive daytime sleepiness impairs memory and the ability to think and process information, and contributes to a substantially increased risk of sustaining an occupational injury.


    The bottom line is that you should wake up feeling relatively refreshed, and you should generally not feel sleepy during the day. If this is not the case, you may have an unrecognized sleep disorder and should see your doctor or a sleep specialist.
     
  4. Jim1454

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Mar 13, 2007
    Messages:
    7,284
    Likes Received:
    4
    Location:
    Toronto
    You shouldn't try to push it... lack of sleep will eventually catch up with you in the form of more frequent illnesses, or worse.

    For someone struggling with addiction, it is important to be very aware of your mental health - not just physical. The biggest triggers for relapse are HALT (Hungry Angry Lonely Tired)!!! So don't let yourself get tired! Make sure you're getting lots of rest.
     
  5. Paul_UK

    Paul_UK Guest

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2004
    Messages:
    6,885
    Likes Received:
    0
    Gender:
    Male
    I was always told 7-8 hours, and for me it needs to be around 8 hours. I don't always get quite enough during the week (normally around 7 hours) but tend to catch up at the weekends.

    The worst day for me is usually Mondays, because I tend to go to bed quite late on Sunday nights due to having caught up with my sleep and not being that tired, but I have to get up at 6am on Monday mornings for a regular meeting at work with the boss at 7:30am. The reason for that is so we get a good hour or so while it's quiet before anyone else gets in.

    Dan, if you are only getting around 4 hours sleep a night and are skipping nights you really are seriously depriving yourself of sleep.
     
  6. Steam Giant

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2007
    Messages:
    1,302
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Northeastern Pennsylvania, USA
    Thanks for the info, everyone!

    I really don't see the problem with it. 4 extra hours in the day (at least!) is worth being tired all day in my book. And so far I really haven't been affected all that much by it, despite the sudden change.
     
  7. xxAngelOnFirexx

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2007
    Messages:
    468
    Likes Received:
    1
    if you don't stop this will evantually drive your body to exhaustion and KILL you!!! and we don't want that! get sleep! it improves performance, your MOOD, your thinking, youractions. you just need it! thats why we sleep. and u know what stop procrastinating and you'll finish your work and not need extra hours! how about that?
     
  8. Tyler

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Oct 11, 2007
    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Alabama
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    It takes me 30-34 minutes just to get you to open your eyes in the morning.. I have always said you need more sleep. Granted, your not a morning person, but when you get less then 6/7 hours your mean in the morning.

    I'd always been told 8 hours, and I would agree.
     
  9. JayHew

    In Loving Memory Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2007
    Messages:
    500
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Glennallen, Alaska
    Getting enough sleep is very important. Over time if you "short" yourself, you will become less and less effective, less alert and eventually will have periods of time when you are not aware of what you are doing and have a psychotic personality break.

    Average need appears to be between 7 and 8 hours a night.

    What Becky wrote above is a great piece of information.
     
  10. Bryan

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2007
    Messages:
    503
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    South Florida
    An adult needs 9.5 hrs to get a "full" night of sleep, but you can easily run on 8 hrs.
     
  11. jayden

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2007
    Messages:
    552
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Sydney bondi beach
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    A few people
    ive been very sleepy in the last few weeks maybe because of the weather being hot now at night??? i go to bed about 9.30-10pm and have to gt up about 6.40am. my mum wakes us up and if i dont get a long sleep i get very sleepy in the day. my mum said i snore a bit if im very sleepy. my 13yo brother snores to but he seems to sleep ok. do you think not sleeping good can make you snore???
    i even fall asleep some times at the beach when i lay on my towel drying off after a surf!!!
     
  12. 24601

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2007
    Messages:
    502
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    I think it would probably be the other way around. Snoring, not always, but sometimes implies an underlying cause that might make you sleep poorly. If you have a stuffed up nose or even something like sleep apnea (both of which can cause snoring) your sleep might be getting interrupted/you may sleep less soundly during the night, thus being more tired during the day. I think it probably has more to do with you being older than your brother than the snoring though. I'm always a lot more tired than my younger siblings, and unless I can stay on a like 1 AM - 10 AM sleep schedule, have a very hard time waking up. Or it could be the heat like you mentioned - I hate hot rooms.
     
  13. EthanS

    EthanS Guest

    6:40am??!!!... thats very early
     
  14. jayden

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2007
    Messages:
    552
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Sydney bondi beach
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    A few people
    maybe because i m am older than william because i dont sleep as good, my 10yo brother sleeps really good to he is hard to wake up in the morning. we all sleep in the 1 room so my 13yo brothers snoring wakes me up some times. i get a stuffed up nose some times because of going to the beach and this might make me snore. maybe the salt water ??? i hate hot rooms. I dont sleep with much on i sleep naked but have a sheet and blanket because in the mornig it can be cool when i wake up.
     
    #14 jayden, Nov 18, 2007
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2007
  15. jayden

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2007
    Messages:
    552
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Sydney bondi beach
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    A few people
    mum has to wake us up at this time on school days because our school is at randwick and we are at bondi and it takes a while to get ready and we go by bus to school. i love sleeping in on the weekends
     
  16. Urman

    Urman Guest

    Over here in new york it is very cold now we just got snow today but i go to bed around 12-1 and wake up for school at 6:00-6:30
     
  17. I do the same I go to sleep anywhere from 12-3 and get up at 6:30 to get ready for school.
     
  18. Vampyrecat

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2007
    Messages:
    923
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    1 hour east of Portland, Vic.
    I got to bed most nights at 9 or 9:30, and on school days, wake up at about 6 am, even though I'm always tired, and on weekends, I usually wake up at 8 or 9 am. My problem is, I can get 8,9,10 even 11 hours of sleep and I'm still really tired. The Doc said I'm Vitamin D Deficient and that affects energy. I also try to make up for that by eating very healthily, although at the moment, I'm sucking on an aniseed hard lolly. But yeah, Eating properly really helps with your energy. Also exercise can help with your energy levels.
     
  19. Louise

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2007
    Messages:
    1,376
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    France
    If I don't get my 8 hours I become the Harridan from Hell so out of respect and love for the people around me I take to my bed as often as possible. And no it is not because I am a lazy old bag as the family would have tell!!!

    Seriously everyone has different sleep needs at different times of their lives but the 'norm' is between 6 and 8 hours a day... Who the hell is Norm? :lol:
     
  20. Jim1454

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Mar 13, 2007
    Messages:
    7,284
    Likes Received:
    4
    Location:
    Toronto
    I've often wondered the same thing! :roflmao: