to think that adults who claim they "can't cope" on less than 10 hours sleep a night are just bone idle...

[minxofmancunia]

barring medical conditions ofcourse....

thinking of my sister here who starts complaning of tiredness from 10pm onwards, gets up at 10ish the next day and is a narky cow all morning as she's "tired".

however am speaking from the perspective of one who thinks 6 hours is good going....

(cowers expecting flaming)

Oh I can cope, but any less than a nice solid 8-9 hours and other people can't cope with me. I like to share my misery around.

This is why God invented coffee, to keep my family safe.

I need 8 hours, a cup of coffee so strong it's like drinking mud, and a brisk walk or workout to really get going. Most days I do not get this perfect combination.

I think, as most have said, that some people just need more sleep than others. But my friend's little sister is the laziest person I have ever met. She never does anything-she's a student (taking classes two days a week) and works a four hour shift at a bookstore every other day. She never goes out, never cleans her house, rarely does laundry, and sleeps 13 hours a day or so. Any other time is spent watching TV. I think being so inactive makes her more tired than if she'd get off her behind every now and then.

Well all you lot who get 8 hours sleep a night, all I can say is lucky you cos I cant sleep however tired I feel.

On a good night I get 4-5 hours, on a bad night i get 2-3 hours. I cope but if I get a whole week of just 2 hours sleep a night I feel shattered.

But regarding your sister, I agree with what others have said, sometimes you feel worse for getting too much sleep.

what you're talking about lou is true sleep deprivation which is a completely different arena to adults who get 7-8 hours and still complain of not coping which is what I'm thinking of.

You have my sympathies and empathy as i too have suffered from extreme sleep deprivation, after dd was born for 4 months or so (yes I know I'm lucky it was only 4 months) and also as a result of lifelong problems with insomnia which waxes and wanes.

I'm "not morning person" either I hate mornings getting up at 5.30am for earlies used to kill me. But as unquietdad has said, I had to get used to it. I couldn't be a ratty, half-arsed lazy sod at work so I adapted.

Agree with the posters who say you can sleep too much - you can end up not really having a refreshing sleep, so everything's just lethargy. But also, not having to get up until 10 sounds like student lifestyle - if you have a job etc or DCs then you usually can't do this. I could have one long sleep every so often (catching up), but too much (chance would be a fine thing) would just get into a vicious cycle I think.

my personal favourite at the moment (ds never slept through - 18mo now...) is when people say to me, "Oh, but i do LIKE my sleep.." as if i effing don't!!

good job I'm too bloody tired to swing for them.

It's not just my sister either, she's just an example. A know a few adults like this. My friend from school used to sleep upto 13/14 hours a day in her 20s. She still refuses to sort anything out if she's "tired".

She's had 3 dcs now and they've suffered because of her laziness.

Excess sleep does make people more lethargic and tired and definitely affects mood. Aswell as too much sleep being a symptom of depression it can also trigger depressive moods as well which is why activity scheduling is often the first tool used when treating depression wih cbt as an unstructured day can lead to more sleep which leads to a dip in mood.

Jajas, I am similar to you, I dont get to sleep til between 2 and 3 usaully, live near a church so I hear clock strike too, and my alarm goes off at 6.45, on a bad night I will be awake about 5am and wont get back to sleep.

Got to be up at 7am to get DS to nursery and I really need to be in bed by around 10pm to feel at my best.

I can get by on less, but why would I want to? I didn't get to bed until after 11pm last night and by this afternoon I'm becoming extremely grumpy - what's the point of inflicting that on anyone, least of all my DS!

Once DS is in bed I'm kind of stuck on living the high life, so it's a bit of chill out time with the hubby, a nice bath, a good book and lights out. There's nowt better to my mind.

I burned the candle at both ends in my youth but I had a job then, being ratty was in the job description!

YABU I need 12 hours sleep.

but then i am up the duff.

normally, 10 is acceptable.

how can someone have too much sleep? its just so...nice...>snuggles

Bone idle is lying about in bed every morning till 9 or later and then fannying about doing very little. Bone idle isn't going to bed at 9, sleeping and getting up at 7 and doing stuff.

Would love to post a bit more, but sorry, am off to bed now

minx, I agree that needing a lot of sleep is a symptom of depression. 10 hours is excessive and terribly limiting. Did your sister always need that much more sleep that others, even growing up?

Jajas - Yes I do envy people who go to bed and fall straight to sleep rather than toss and turn for hours.

I have taken stuff like nytol but I find that after a couple of nights I become immune to it and I dont want to go down the road of sleeping pills because I am single mum and need to be able to be woken by the kids if anything was to happen and I dont like to take anything unless I really have to. I cope with the sleep I get.

FeelingOld, how about going to sleep later?

I find that during holidays, I sleep more and more, until I get to a point where I find it difficult to fall asleep and toss and turn a lot before I drop off. Could you be getting too much sleep?

I crave 10 hrs a night. I never get it mind you

Blueshoes - I usually go to bed about 12, if I go ealier I still toss and turn til about 2 or 3 am.
On a good night I get to sleep about 2am ish and sleep til my alarm goes of at 6.45 so get about 4 and a half hours sleep, on a bad night I drop off about 3 and am awake at 5-5.30 and I find if I have one bad night I am usually in for a run of them.

i need 9 hours to feel good, but obviously i can 'cope' with fewer.

i can also fall asleep quickly and easily and nap for short periods if necessary to make up the deficit.

DP on the other hand, is a terrible sleeper.

i am not bone idle when awake though - am actually pretty full of beans and active. DP jokes that i am only 100% awake or 100% dead to the world and nothing in between.

FeelingOld, maybe in primitive times, you were the night watchman- the one who stood guard against predators at night.

I seriously envy your needing less sleep. But don't envy the tossing and turning.

My father was the sort who could sleep anywhere and everywhere. In shopping centres, he was the one dozing in the seat in the corner. Then again, he is a doctor, goes on call, and is permanently sleep deprived but functions well.

my insomnia sounds similar to feelinold and jaja, takes me ages to fall aslee, then wake up at regular intervals taking an hour+to get back to sleep. Not once in my adult life that I can remember have I slept "through" the night. But i hold down a job, get things done etc. Sometimes I'm bloody tired but I cope, I have no choice.

Fwiw my sister and her friends (who also claim to need 9hours +) think I'm some sort of freak and should be consigned to a mental asylum as they would be psychotic on only 6 hours average a night (their words).

I sometimes think you can have too much sleep.

During the week I don't need more than about 4 hours, infact I wake up automatically after about 4 hours. If I have more I oversleep and feel really tired.

At the weekends I cam just sleep and sleep - dp reckons I am the sleeping version of a storage heater. I can easily do 10 hours then but feel rather crap for it. Over the school holidays if I get into a patter of sleeping 10 hours plus II become very lethargic and start to lose the will to live.

I do remember my year and a half of major sleep deprivation (averaging 4 hours a night with frequent disturbances) - it was work related, not baby-related. Effects progressed merrily and steadily through bad temper, forgetfulness, disorientation, auditory hallucinations, hysterics and a nice spot of self-harming on top.
Mind you, it meant that dealing with DS when he was a baby was an absolute piece of piss.

I've had terrible insomnia at times, which in the end needed treatment with temazepam, and so have read up extensively on sleep. And I have a cousin who is a professor of sleep! [proud emoticon] and all the books about sleep say it is not healthy for an adult to need more than 8 hours a night. Or, at least, they say that those who need an awful lot of sleep are less healthy than those who feel fine on the average 7 - 8 hours.

My insomnia is pretty much cured atm and if I have a good night I wake up 7 1/2 hours after I go to sleep.