How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?

You hear the advice that people need eight hours of sleep, but does that apply to every person? What about children, teens and older people? Many people seem to get by on less than eight so...
How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?

Ellen Caroll has often asked herself this exact question – especially when it comes to helping her family members get the amount of sleep they need. With a son in preschool and a daughter in high school, a husband who works over 50 hours a week and aging parents, one with Parkinson's disease, Ellen's family runs the gamut when it comes to age and sleep needs. Because all of Ellen's family members have busy schedules, they often forget to put their sleep needs ahead of their other priorities. Not only does Ellen need to convince her family that getting the right amount of sleep is important, but she also needs to figure out how much sleep they really need!

If you're like Ellen and her family, you're probably also confused about how to know when "enough is enough" in regards to your sleep. While news media and health organizations are regularly saying to get more sleep, it might be unclear to you how many hours of sleep you should be getting and how to tell if you are adequately rested. Keep reading and we’ll explore how you can make educated decisions about your sleep and that of your family members'.
What the Research Says About Sleep Duration

The first thing experts will tell you about sleep is that there is no "magic number." Not only do different age groups need different amounts of sleep, but sleep needs are also individual. Just like any other characteristics you are born with, the amount of sleep you need to function best may be different for you than for someone who is of the same age and gender. While you may be at your absolute best sleeping seven hours a night, someone else may clearly need nine hours to have a happy, productive life. In fact, a 2005 study confirmed the fact that sleep needs vary across populations, and the study calls for further research to identify traits within genes that may provide a "map" to explain how sleep needs differ among individuals.


Another reason there is "no magic number" for your sleep results from two different factors that researchers are learning about: a person’s basal sleep need – the amount of sleep our bodies need on a regular basis for optimal performance – and sleep debt, the accumulated sleep that is lost to poor sleep habits, sickness, awakenings due to environmental factors or other causes. Two studies suggest that healthy adults have a basal sleep need of seven to eight hours every night, but where things get complicated is the interaction between the basal need and sleep debt. For instance, you might meet your basal sleep need on any single night or a few nights in a row, but still have an unresolved sleep debt that may make you feel more sleepy and less alert at times, particularly in conjunction with circadian dips, those times in the 24-hour cycle when we are biologically programmed to be more sleepy and less alert, such as overnight hours and mid-afternoon. You may feel overwhelmingly sleepy quite suddenly at these times, shortly before bedtime or feel sleepy upon awakening. The good news is that some research suggests that the accumulated sleep debt can be worked down or "paid off."