Q: “How come some people can function fine with so little sleep, when others can get a solid eight hours a night and still be tired?” ~ Danielle, Calgary, AB.
Here is the answer from Dr. Robyn Stremler, RN, BSc(Hons), MSc(A), PhD, a Nursing Research Associate at the Centre for Nursing at The Hospital for Sick Children.
A: “Most adults need seven-and-a-half to eight hours of sleep per night, but there are many people who need more or less than that amount to feel well-rested. There is probably a genetic component to how much sleep each person needs. The 24-hour a day demands of society, including work, school, time with family and friends, texting, Twitter and Facebook, has a big influence on how late we stay up and how much sleep we actually get!
The best way to know you are getting enough sleep is how you feel the next day. The amount of sleep that allows you to wake up (maybe even a few minutes before your alarm clock goes off) with energy for the whole day is the right amount for you. Although there is variation in how much sleep adults need, we know that people who consistently sleep less than six hours at night are more likely to be sleepy during the day, have a more depressed mood and make mistakes with complex tasks such as driving a car.
People who say they need only a few hours of sleep each night may have gotten used to the feeling of being tired and may underestimate the amount of sleep they actually need. Someone who is sleeping eight hours or more a night but still feels tired may have problems with sleep such as difficulty breathing properly during sleep and should talk to a health-care professional. Also, the best sleep is achieved when you go to bed and wake up at approximately the same time each day. So, if you are sleeping eight or more hours a day, but you go to bed and get up at very different times each day, this does not allow you to have a consistent daily rhythm (also called a circadian rhythm) and may leave you feeling tired or groggy.”
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