How many hours of sleep do I need in a night?
29 Answers
Moderated by Smita Joshi, BA Psychology / MA / Advanced EFT Practitioner
Updated: Jan 7, 2020
cashmeredreams
on
Jan 5, 2015
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It varies from person to person. It is usually accepted that a person should get between 7-8 hours a night, but some people have been okay on just 3-4 hours. Others might need 11-14 hours to feel refreshed.
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Arkelight
on
Dec 27, 2014
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You need between 7-9 hours of sleep per night depending on your age, circumstances, etc.
Under sleeping and Oversleeping can have negative effects on your health.
ChibiGinger
on
May 24, 2015
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It depends on the Person. Most People are saying that you need 6 - 8 hours. I am only sleeping max. 4 hours at night and my doc says that it is all right as long as I am not tired in the day.
wonderer
on
Dec 18, 2014
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While they say 8 hours of sleep is ideal, many people can survive on less then that. Many adults can live with 6 hours of sleep a night. It really depends on the individual what works best. If you are feeling exhausted when you wake up or feeling like you need a nap in the middle of the day it could be you aren't getting enough sleep.
Ej
on
Dec 19, 2014
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It should be noted that the amount of sleep varies from person to person, age to age, and lifestyle to lifestyle. It is recommended for most healthy adults that 7.5-9 hours is ideal and even more for teenagers. The aforementioned standards are also recognized by the National Sleep Foundation and should be advocated as such; no simple answer is warranted or permissible to all individuals as universally acceptable. In essence, there is no magical answer. Tinkerbell wouldn't like that answer. :(
The scenario provided is the "U-turn" example, and applies to adults. One one line is short-duration sleep, usually measured between 3-5 hours of sleep. Shortness in sleep leads to increase in body mass index (BMI), increase risk in diabetes and heart disease, increase risk in mental illnesses, and so on. On the other line is too much sleep, typically referred to as more than 8-9 hours depending on the study. Although there is strong evidence linking too much sleep as a negative, it should be noted this is still refuted as correlation (the likelihood of sleeping too much leads to negative impacts) doesn't necessarily mean causation (sleeping too much IS harmful).
Using this knowledge provided, it would be best to consult the family physician as they would be able to consider all of your biological and social variables. Some researchers (Youngstedt and Kripke) even believe those sleeping more than 8 hours a day would benefit from decreasing sleep to 8 hours max just as those with increased appetites would benefit from controlling eating habits. Since the studies are ongoing, adapting, evolving, and changing, it would be best to consult the family physician for the most accurate answer, or seek a professional in the appropriate field who specializes in this area.
Rollinginthedeep
on
Dec 19, 2014
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Typically spending 6-8 hours sleeping works best for me, I think somewhere in that range is reasonable.
Teasley4031
on
Dec 19, 2014
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I think that the hours of sleep one needs at night is going to vary person to person. I think a minimum of 6 hours is what's needed, but some people need more.
Now yes, you're going to get the occasional person that SAY they only need 2-3 hours of sleep per night and while they might be able to function during the day, are they able to really reach their full potential had they gotten a good nights rest?
I think people need to be aware of the signals their body is sending them, if your body is indicating it needs more sleep to function properly, then get more sleep (without oversleeping! There's such a fine line between the two)
zzz
on
Dec 19, 2014
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Each person has different needs. To find out your own pattern, you can try setting up an alarm to wake up at the same time everyday and pay attention to at what time at night you usually get tired enough to sleep. Usually it will be a little more or less than 8 hours, often more for teenagers.
SoaringSky
on
Jan 2, 2015
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Almost anyone you ask this question would say 8, but from my experience, it depends on what you're used to. I have suffered from insomnia for years, and have gotten by on very little sleep. Now that I've made serious progress with my anxiety and my sleeping problems, I find that while I am able to sleep for longer periods of time, especially with the aid of medication, I feel worse than I do when I sleep very little. For me, the most I can manage is 5 or 6 hours or so.
ScreenNamesAreHardToChoose
on
Apr 5, 2015
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When I was at my best, I was sleeping a solid consistant 6 hours a night, although you should be fine sleeping up to 8 or 9 hours, as long as it's the same consistent amount of time, and at roughly the same time you go to sleep and wake up. Any more than that, or if the time you go to sleep/wake up is at different times from day-to-day, then you will notice some grogginess during the day, and you may not function very well mentally.
tealGrapes4767
on
Jun 3, 2015
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@cashmeredreams has a point, it depends on the person. I personally think that we must sleep between 8-9 hours a night. And it it is good to make a nap after having lunch every day if it's possible. This helps us to be active during the day.
Anonymous
on
Jun 12, 2015
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Well, it's always different. It depends on how I feel. When I'm very stressed, I tend to sleep more during the day. And other days i dont have a choice on how much i sleep because school.
Anonymous
on
Aug 3, 2015
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For teens between thirteen and seventeen years old, about nine hours of sleep is the doctor recommended amount.
OrangeSlices
on
Aug 12, 2015
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This does vary person to person, usually though a person should get between 7-8 hours a night, maybe even 9! But I have known some people that rely off 3-4 hours. I myself need about 12 hours to even feel brand new again and ready for a new day. They say 7-8 hours (From what I've read in articles and such) Best of luck though, get as many Z's as you can! :)
Mandymb12497
on
Sep 8, 2015
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About eight to nine hours of sleep every night is a healthy sleep. Most people get around eight hours
Maddiejb202
on
Dec 29, 2015
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It depends on age. if you are 16 and under i recommend around 8. 17 and up can have about 6-7.
that is a realistic answer though.
the proper recommended amount is 9-10 for ages 15 andunder. Also, 7-8 For 17 and up.
floatingonclouds
on
Mar 29, 2016
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Please, please try to get 9 hours and 15 minutes every night at least! Especially if you are a student... when you learn new things at school, your brain has it freshly stored in your memory. When you go to bed, all of what you learnt has to be processed in a certain amount of time. So if you sleep late, your brain has less time to process all that information!
Anonymous
on
May 3, 2016
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You need eight hours of sleep in a night. Well, something that I heard on the radio was seven hours and forty-six minutes.
Anonymous
on
May 9, 2016
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at least 7-8 hours a day if you practice polyphasic sleep maybe atleast 4 hrs
Anonymous
on
May 11, 2016
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I think about 8 hours