Reviewed by Jennifer Martin, PhD

Perhaps you’ve seen the headlines about how oversleeping has been linked to a higher threat of illness and dying. If you happen to’re the type of one that commonly clocks greater than eight hours of slumber, these information tales have in all probability made you surprise, “Why do I sleep a lot? And is it unhealthy for me?”

On this story, sleep specialists make it easier to perceive the most recent science. You’ll discover out what actually occurs whenever you oversleep, together with the way it impacts your well being.

(Spoiler: Chances are high, you don’t have anything to fret about.)

How a lot is an excessive amount of sleep?

On common, most individuals want someplace between seven and 9 hours of sleep every evening. However that’s a median, not a good-health edict.

“As you begin to transfer out in both course, there are individuals who require barely extra and barely much less sleep,” says Chris Winter, MD, sleep specialist, creator of The Sleep Resolution and The Rested Youngster, and co-author of Precision Diet’s Sleep, Stress Administration, and Restoration Teaching Certification.

Above (and under) common sleepers fall into three major classes.

1. Individuals who want fewer than 7 hours of sleep

Known as Pure Brief Sleepers, these genetically-gifted of us don’t want as a lot sleep as the typical particular person.

Elevated ranges of a hormone known as orexin permits them to really feel spunky and clear-headed with simply 5 to 6 hours of shuteye.

Right here’s an necessary caveat, although. Loads of individuals who get lower than seven hours aren’t Pure Brief Sleepers. Somewhat, they skimp on sleep for different causes, starting from revenge-bedtime procrastination to parenthood to an “all the time on” work ethic.

If you happen to’re not genetically a Pure Brief Sleeper, skimping on sleep doubtless means you’ll both…

▶ really feel like rubbish the following day

▶ received’t really feel like rubbish the following day—however solely since you’re so used to the results of sleep deprivation that you simply’ve not keep in mind what it feels wish to be properly rested

Along with the above, over time, your threat for coronary heart illness, most cancers, and sort 2 diabetes can go up as properly.

(Extra about sleep and well being additional down within the story.)

2. Individuals who want greater than 9 hours of sleep

As a consequence of their genetic make-up, Pure Lengthy Sleepers often want 10, 11, or 12 hours as a way to really feel refreshed. Their genetics additionally trigger them to really feel drained extra shortly than different individuals.

Additionally on this longer-sleeping class: kids, youngsters, and lots of younger adults, all of whom want extra sleep so their our bodies can proceed to develop, says Jennifer Martin, PhD, Professor of Drugs on the College of California, Los Angeles and likewise a co-author Precision Diet’s Sleep, Stress Administration, and Restoration Teaching Certification.

Sure prescription drugs also can enhance sleep time, says Dr. Martin.

“Often this impact is reversed when the particular person stops the treatment, and in some circumstances, the sleepiness is diminished as soon as the particular person will get used to the treatment,” she says.

3. Individuals who want 13+ hours of sleep

Some individuals sleep 14, 17, 24 or extra hours with little or no interruption, and so they nonetheless wake feeling drained.

“If you happen to discover you’re one in every of these individuals, it is perhaps a sign that there’s something unsuitable along with your sleep high quality, not essentially the amount,” Dr. Winter says. For instance, sleep issues like sleep apnea and insomnia can disrupt sleep, inflicting individuals to wake feeling unrefreshed.

Quite a lot of well being circumstances—together with epilepsy, Parkinson’s illness, and despair—also can result in hypersomnia, which is the shortcoming to remain awake. Narcolepsy, one other hypersomnia situation, causes individuals to really feel drained on a regular basis, main them to go to sleep at inappropriate and harmful instances, equivalent to whereas on a date or driving a car. These issues require medical remedy.

If you happen to suspect any of the above is true for you, it’s an important factor to say to your physician.

What occurs whenever you sleep an excessive amount of?

“For the typical particular person, if they’re sleeping, they in all probability have to be sleeping,” says Dr. Winter.

That’s as a result of our our bodies all have a sleep set level—known as “homeostasis.” Get too little sleep one evening and your physique will reply by craving extra sleep the following. Alternatively, you might have seen: If you happen to gather extra sleep than ordinary by sleeping in on a weekend, you’ll doubtless end up awake later that night.

There are, nonetheless, some exceptions. Extra about these under.

(Discover out: Would YOU make an important sleep coach?)

Does oversleeping hurt your well being?

Regardless of all the scary headlines, it’s doubtless that lengthy sleep itself poses little to no well being issues. That’s as a result of, in individuals who sleep greater than most, it’s usually the results of a persistent well being downside, not the trigger, finds analysis.^1,2

Often, the issue is bi-directional, which means the well being downside disturbs sleep, which worsens the well being downside, which ends up in worsened sleep, and the cycle continues.

These well being issues embody:

▶ Sleep issues like sleep apnea (the place respiratory repeatedly stops throughout sleep) and narcolepsy (which is characterised by extreme daytime sleepiness and sleep assaults)

▶ Diabetes

▶ Hypothyroidism

▶ Melancholy

▶ Continual fatigue syndrome

▶ Coronary heart illness

For the above circumstances, it’s necessary to notice that oversleeping doesn’t trigger them. Somewhat, it’s a symptom of them.

For instance, sleep apnea repeatedly wakes individuals, usually for transient moments, in the course of the evening, which may result in hypersomnia (extreme sleepiness in the course of the day) in addition to a robust need to remain in mattress longer than eight hours or to take a nap in the course of the afternoon.

“When medical issues disturb sleep, it takes an individual an extended time frame to be sufficiently recovered,” says Dr. Martin.

If you happen to commonly get greater than 10 hours, and you’re feeling energetic and clear headed in the course of the day, that’s nice! Get pleasure from your slumber with out worry. You almost certainly don’t have anything to fret about.

Then again, in the event you spend your days craving a nap—drained, mind fogged, irritated, and choice fatigued—there could also be an underlying subject value exploring along with your physician.

(Be taught extra: Why individuals with insomnia swear by CBT-I.)

Can sleeping an excessive amount of make you drained?

Ever seen that you simply really feel extra drained whenever you sleep in (say, on the weekends) than you do whenever you stand up early?

There are two doubtless causes for this phenomenon.

1. Oversleeping is commonly a response to undersleeping

Some individuals sleep 10+ hours on the weekends as a result of they’re sleeping six or fewer hours in the course of the week.

“One motive individuals really feel drained after sleeping so much is that they nonetheless haven’t paid again their sleep money owed from prior nights,” says Dr. Martin. “In case you are very sleep disadvantaged, it takes a number of days to get again on observe and ‘catch up.’”

2. Sleeping in can disrupt sleep-wake signaling.

If you happen to often wake at 6 am, sleeping in on the weekends will disrupt your mind’s capacity to launch the neurochemicals wanted for that refreshed, ready-to-slay-the-world feeling.

“It’s actually extra about sleep timing than sleep quantity,” explains Dr. Winter. “The mind’s timing cues are being disrupted.”

Amongst these timing cues:

✅ Overhead and out of doors gentle that units your mind’s circadian clock

✅ The blaring noise of your alarm clock that triggers the discharge of cortisol and different alertness chemical substances

✅ Conversations with housemates that nudge you to “get up! assume!”

✅ Caffeine

✅ Breakfast

✅ That feeling of being rushed as you race out the door

Whenever you often oversleep, you deprive your mind of some or all of these cues. A number of the wakeup indicators may not happen in any respect. Others, like overhead lighting and caffeine, happen hours later than your mind is used to getting them.

Finish consequence: you are feeling drained.

How will you inform in the event you’re sleeping an excessive amount of?  

Dr. Winter suggests you think about this query:

Throughout the day, in the event you sit right down to learn a e-book or watch a present, do you are feeling a robust urge to nod off?

If the reply is sure, it’s a sign that you simply’re not getting sufficient restorative sleep at evening, which can be an indication of a sleep problem or sleep high quality subject, he says.

Then again, in the event you’re clocking a variety of bedtime hours and really feel energized in the course of the day, 10+ hours might simply be your pure sleep sample.

“In case you are a protracted sleeper and really feel good, don’t fear about it,” says Dr. Martin. “Do your finest to spend the period of time in mattress you want.”

References

Click on right here to view the data sources referenced on this article.

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