[/align][align=center]Sleep Disorders Health Center [/align][align=center][/align][align=center][/align][align=center][/align][align=center][/align][align=center]Sleep Disorders: How Much Sleep Do You Need?
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The sleep requirements for each person depend on many factors, including age. For example, in general: [/align][ul][*][align=center]Infants require about 16 hours a day [/align][*][align=center]Teenagers need about 9 hours on average [/align][*][align=center]Most adults need 7 to 8 hours a night for the best amount of sleep, although some people may need as few as 5 hours or as many as 10 hours of sleep each day [/align][*][align=center]Women in the first 3 months of pregnancy often need several more hours of sleep than usual [/align][/ul][align=center]
However, experts say that if you feel drowsy during the day, even during boring activities, you haven't had enough sleep.
Sleep Deprivation Debits
The amount of sleep a person needs also increases if he or she has been deprived of sleep in previous days. Getting too little sleep creates a "sleep debt," which is much like being overdrawn at a bank. Eventually, your body will demand that the debt be repaid. We don't seem to adapt to getting less sleep than we need, while we may get used to a sleep-depriving schedule, our judgment, reaction time, and other functions are still impaired.
Consequences of Too Little Sleep
Too little sleep may cause: [/align][ul][*][align=center]Memory problems [/align][*][align=center]Depression [/align][*][align=center]A weakening of your immune system, increasing your chance of becoming sick [/align][*][align=center]Increase in perception of pain [/align][/ul][align=center]
Sleep Deprivation Risky Business
Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous. Sleep-deprived people who are tested by using a driving simulator or by performing a hand-eye coordination task perform as badly as or worse than those who are intoxicated.
Sleep deprivation also magnifies alcohol's effects on the body, so a fatigued person who drinks will become much more impaired than someone who is well rested.
Driver fatigue is responsible for an estimated 100,000 motor vehicle accidents and 1,500 deaths each year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Since drowsiness is the brain's last step before falling asleep, driving while drowsy can -- and often does -- lead to disaster. Caffeine and other stimulants cannot overcome the effects of severe sleep deprivation.
The National Sleep Foundation says that if you have trouble keeping your eyes focused, if you can't stop yawning, or if you can't remember driving the last few miles, you are probably too drowsy to drive safely.[/align][align=center][/align][align=center][/align][align=center]WebMD Medical Reference provided in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic[/align][align=center][/align][align=center]`Space is like his Grandfather, and only sleeps[/align][align=center]4 hours a day, plus 2 power nap's : ) (15-20 min's[/align][align=center]We must be hyper/active : ) Peep's : )[/align][align=cente

 

if i get 6 i consider myself lucky. never have been much of a sleeper hate the idea of sleeping my life away would rather be out there enjoying life

 

I get 6 to 8 hours of sleep per day.

 

Being an architecture student it comes and goes, I am however one of the few that have yet to pull an all nighter for a project, I try and make sure I'm in bed by 3 at least. But usually 6-8, and about 20 an night during the weekend

 

Luckily I don't have to pull all nighters anymore BUT I can't put down the remote! I think I average about 5 hrs a night, but last night I got about 3. I was up watching The First 48 and eating Coco Puffs.

 

I have to take meds to help me sleep, luckily they work and I get about 7 hrs a night.

 

i can take 4-6 sleeping pills and not even yawn... no lie, i did it one night trying to go to sleep, took 2 at midnight, 2 at 2 a.m., and 2 more at 3. finally got to sleep around 4, got up at about 8 and went all day long.

 

hmm between 18 college credits and 40 hours a work a week(its only target but still) so with homework and work i dont have much time to sleep

 

As I get older, (I'm now 51) I find I need more sleep. I get 6 - 8 hours per night. Like alot of you younger people, 4 hours was plenty years ago. I can still get by on 4, but I really feel it, so I make myself get more. Lack of sleep is one of the most unhealthy things you can do, both physically and mentally.I read somewhere that if you quit sleeping and eating, you would die from lack of sleep before you starved to death. So,now that I've joined the ranks of being anold fart, sleep and a steady schedule is important to me. Maybe in the next post I'll discuss the importance ofthe color and textureof your poop . . . another issue that seems to gain importance in later years!

 

I usually go to bed around 9 pm and wake up around 5:30 am so around 9 hrs for me...and I only work 8 hrs a day on shift work