How much sleep does a person need?

Somehow we are at war - we and sleep. And not since yesterday - it is a conflict of the tougher variety.

Even as children bedtime for us was almost a punishment. Forget it, and how lucky we all are now mature and grow up. Correct? That is why we do things differently: be sure to be there early to work and read articles like "These 17 things make successful people before 5 am"

where sleep according Maslow's pyramid as a basic need and therefore on a par with eating, drinking and sex. So why we think we have so much around manipulate it?

our body: and what actually says the only thing to really matters here?

In order not to rack our brains and us - and you! - sleepless nights to spare, we took a look at what science has to say on the subject. And you provide the facts for your own personal truce.

The approximate: How much sleep

needs an adult?

How much sleep you need depends primarily on your age. Finally, newborns sleep up to twice as long as adults.

The US National Sleep Foundation, one of the most respected authorities in terms of sleep, are following recommendations for sleep duration

Is too much sleep unhealthy?

Is it possible to have too much of something good? When it comes to sleep a few points to a "yes" out at least says a large-scale study Spanish. Do you sleep should normally nine hours or longer, you could have an increased risk, falling ill later dementia, so the explorers.
In addition, showed up in tests ( and code here) in subjects who slept longer than usual, increased CPR value - a value that indicates inflammation in the body
At the same time could have a paradoxical side effect of too much sleep: Instead rested and in top shape to jump out of bed, do you feel after 10 or 11 hours of sleep probably rather lethargic and tired. And your sleep quality could code will no longer be the same as for an 8-hour sleep.
overdo it you should not be with the night's sleep so rather. And let's face it: In the end, life is much too exciting to sleep through it
.
So kick it to the other extreme and night into day?

How much sleep is enough?

Too much or too little sleep? Why both not a good idea

As for the impact of our sleep time, some studies come in their results to a U-shaped curve.
Does this mean in German: Too little sleep the negative effects are high, in a healthy sleep time everything is in the green zone and once you sleep permanently too much, the list of cons will get longer.
An investigation revealed at over 5,000 participants that both types of sleep could affect your mental performance code. And another study provides evidence that a too short - just as too long - perhaps sleep duration associated with chronic depression and anxiety disorders is code.
Even purely physical deviant sleep behavior is probably not wake up before: In a Canadian study nearly 280 infrequent and frequent sleeper were observed over a period of six years. Compared to "normal sleepers" the participants of both groups had to develop a higher by more than 20 percent risk, obesity .

When lack of sleep can be positive

where need from party all night and be at so nothing bad. What do you even know from dancing the party nights, according to the science could play a role in a much more serious context: For a long time, there is proof that a night without sleep in depression may lead to a short-term improvement in symptoms.
The fact that sleep deprivation might be helpful for depression, was already noted in 1818 by Johann Christian August Hein Roth. Namely in the "Textbook of disorders of mental life or mental disorders and their treatment" - that could have come straight from the title of Harry Potter. Indeed Heinroth but was none other than the owner of the world's first chair of "Mental therapy".
Back in Time-the concept is called the therapeutic sleep deprivation "wake therapy" and is supported by recent studies, the improvement of depression symptoms suggest around 40 to 60 percent of cases.
It is still unclear what mechanisms behind it. Some of the boom stops in front until the next sleep while he later felt in other few weeks. To accompany drug therapy is often used.

How long can we sustain without sleep?

Randy Gardner, a 17-year-old student, has in 1964 tried just that. And let's say this: We would not recommend it. Whole 11 days and 25 minutes, he was back then awake. This led to hallucinations and very limited physical and mental performance.
By the way lay a Briton in 2007 during his experiment again two hours on it. At that time, the category in the Guinness Book of World Records but had been abolished long ago for security reasons, so Gardner still holds the record unchallenged.
And the would have to sleep through the whole thing to a whole week, you might think. In fact, however, it was only one night with 15 hours. After that, his sleep swung again to the levels of 7 to 8 hours. To date, the one of the documents that we can catch up on our sleep limited
is used.
Deadly is sleep deprivation usually is not. The situation is different in the "lethal familial insomnia" code - an extremely rare neurodegenerative disease. The inherited gene defect occurs mainly in adults in middle to old age and leads within years, sometimes even months, to death.

Can you catch up on sleep?

Perhaps you remember to Momo and the gray men who stole their time Sparkasse people the time. All just a story? Maybe we are not so far from it. Probably you have ever operated Sleep banking.
The idea behind it: Just like the money we go with our time sometimes more, sometimes less prudently. Only if we go too wild, we get into the red. And what are the red numbers on the account, the sleep debt for our body.
If you do not sleep enough for a long time and the ever-increasing need have to compensate for this time, you therefore do "debt": You have practically covered your time account - taking time where there was none, as you would have them asleep have to spend.
The good news? You can hardly make up for your sleep debt. Your body is there much more flexible than your disposable - you do not have the exact time (or possibly more) "nachschlafen" that you took.
And even if you wanted to, you could not well: After all, even slept Gardner after his experiment no 11 nights, but "only" a paltry 15 hours. If you have neglected your sleep, you do not have absolutely plan to bring in him a whole weekend.
The bad news? You can hardly make up for your sleep debt. Over a longer time accumulated deficits could negatively affect your health without you in retrospect can change a lot of it.
Similar to your diet, it but has anyway not much point to make in retrospect worries. If you have not eaten all day fast food yesterday, you can do that today, in the sense no longer "balance". Instead, you can look but aware - and make it here now and from now better
.