How much sleep do you need? How much sleep is normal? How much sleep should you be getting?

You’ve probably heard that we should all be aiming for something like eight hours of sleep. The fact of the matter is that we each have an individual sleep requirement, just as we each have an individual shoe size, and this requirement can change from day to day, just as the number of breaths we take can change from day to day.
So, the best way to think about sleep duration is that it’s something the body takes care of by itself. The body will always give us the minimum amount of sleep we need.
Now, that’s not to say that we should be satisfied with getting, say, five hours of sleep each night if that leads us to feel drained, exhausted, and lethargic. However, if we can learn to trust our body’s natural ability to sleep and remove any effort to sleep, we create the right conditions for more sleep to happen.
Many people live happy, productive, and energetic lives with five hours of sleep each night. Others with six. Others with seven. Others with eight.
A real difficulty I have when people ask me how much sleep they should be getting is that it’s impossible to know for sure! The most accurate answer to this question is that the amount of sleep you need is the amount of sleep you get when you wake feeling refreshed and energetic enough to enjoy a productive day.
When you see messages that tell you to aim for seven or eight hours of sleep, these are aimed at people who are not giving themselves the opportunity to get seven or eight hours of sleep - they might be working late into the night, getting out of bed really early, and intentionally depriving themselves of sleep.
It’s also important to bear in mind that people who sleep well pay very little, if any, attention to how much sleep they get. One study found that people who reported getting an average of roughly seven hours of sleep were actually getting an average of six hours of sleep.
It’s also important to note that all sleep duration numbers that get collected are averages - and there will always be healthy, happy people who exist outside of these averages.
Finally, it’s important to understand that our sleep changes as we get older. We do not need (or get) the same sleep at the age of 70 that we got at the age of 20. As we get older, we typically get less sleep and we typically get lighter sleep.
So, with all that in mind, when sleep is measured objectively, for example in a sleep lab, we often see sleep durations far closer to six hours than eight hours.
Although the National Sleep Foundation recommends that young adults and adults get between seven and nine hours of sleep and older adults get between seven and eight hours of sleep, they emphasize that those recommendations are not guidelines for those with a sleep disorder such as insomnia and they also pointed out that for adults between 26 and 64 years of age, six hours of sleep may be appropriate and for adults 65 and over as little as five hours may be appropriate.
References:
Hirshkowitz, M., Whiton, K., Albert, S. M., Alessi, C., Bruni, O., DonCarlos, L., Hazen, N., Herman, J., Katz, E. S., Kheirandish-Gozal, L., Neubauer, D. N., O’Donnell, A. E., Ohayon, M., Peever, J., Rawding, R., Sachdeva, R. C., Setters, B., Vitiello, M. V., Ware, J. C., & Adams Hillard, P. J. (2015). National Sleep Foundation’s sleep time duration recommendations: methodology and results summary. Sleep Health, 1(1), 40-43. doi.org/10.101...
Lauderdale, D. S., Knutson, K. L., Yan, L. L., Liu, K., & Rathouz, P. J. (2008). Self-Reported and Measured Sleep Duration. Epidemiology, 19(6), 838-845. doi.org/10.109...
▶ Subscribe to the Insomnia Coach channel (and be sure to click the notification bell afterward so you don't miss any videos): / @insomniacoach
My name is Martin Reed and I am the founder of Insomnia Coach®. I offer sleep coaching services that give people with insomnia all the skills and support they need to enjoy better sleep for the rest of their lives. I also offer a free two-week sleep training course for people with insomnia at insomniacoach....
All content found on the Insomnia Coach RUclips channel is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
#insomnia
#sleep