Hello and welcome back to Sleep Hacks where we give you simple tips to help you sleep better at night so you can get through your next day as your best self. My name is Alexa and today we're going to find out if you really can get too much sleep and if so, what that means for your overall health.
I assume most adults watching this will think the same thing that I initially thought, "Oh, sure. I would love to be lucky enough to get too much sleep." Well, it looks like this may not be your best bet. Well, seven to nine hours is the ideal range and of course, there are some special health conditions that would require more sleep from certain people. Regularly sleeping for more than nine hours each night can be linked to potential indicators of mental illness or even increased risk of mortality from conditions like heart disease, obesity, or even chronic pain.
Johns Hopkins reported that adults needing more than nine hours of sleep and those 65 and older needing more than eight could be at risk for a sleep disorder like narcolepsy. A sleep study is a smart move if you feel like you're sleeping in isn't really doing you well. So how can you tell if you're over sleeping and what effect is having on you? There are a few indicators that could cue you into something being off.
Number one, if you have trouble waking up in the morning and I'm talking about more than just pressing snooze five times because in my book that's essentially healthy. Another clue could be difficulty concentrating throughout the day. This can come in waves or be fairly consistent. Another symptom to pay attention to is grogginess throughout the day or on and off. The main thing to pay attention to here is if you felt like you've gotten a lot of sleep and somehow your symptoms are reflective of the times where you actually don't get a lot of sleep, there's definitely something to look into. Like we've discussed in our recent video how much sleep you really need where you fall on the recommended range isn't a one size fits all and it's really important to keep in mind your personal health and lifestyle.
Components of your sleeping patterns can be linked to your genes so it might be helpful to look back at your family history if you're having trouble nailing it down yourself. Recommended hours of sleep is another great way to start to try to figure out what works best for you. Adults, 18 and older, can be expected to lean closer to the seven hours sometimes and of course, as you get older, it's okay to sleep less and it's really normal and actually can be a sign of healthy sleeping patterns.
Of course, you'll always want to consider your general health when you're thinking about what sleep makes sense for you or if you're getting too much or too little. So, of course, if you're fighting a cold or some other sickness, you want to give your body enough rest to fight that and get you back to your healthy self. Now if you just stayed up too late last night, you actually want to stay closer to your normal sleeping pattern and not sleep double to make up for it.
Alright, I hope this video helped to get a handle on how much sleep is too much and what that could mean for you. If you liked this video, please give us a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel in order to stay up to date on all things Sleep Hacks. See you next time and sleep well.
