When it comes to sleep, can you have too much of a good thing? It's true a good night's sleep is essential for health. But oversleeping has been linked to a host of medical problems, including diabetes, heart disease, and increased risk of death.
Researchers are careful to note, however, that two other factors --depression and low socioeconomic status -- are strongly associated with oversleeping. Those two factors may be the reason for the observed negative health effects. For example, people of lower socioeconomic status may have less access to health care and therefore more undiagnosed illnesses, such as heart disease, which, in turn, may cause oversleeping.
Oversleeping: How Much Sleep Is Too Much?
The amount of sleep you need varies significantly over the course of your lifetime. It depends on your age and activity level as well as your general health and lifestyle habits. For instance, during periods of stress or illness, you may feel an increased need for sleep. But although sleep needs differ over time and from person to person, experts typically recommend that adults should sleep between seven and nine hours each night.
Why Do People Sleep Too Much?
For people who suffer from hypersomnia, oversleeping is actually a medical disorder. The condition causes people to suffer from extreme sleepiness throughout the day, which is not usually relieved by napping. It also causes them to sleep for unusually long periods of time at night. Many people with hypersomnia experience symptoms of anxiety, low energy, and memory problems as a result of their almost constant need for sleep.
Obstructive sleep apnea a disorder that causes people to stop breathing momentarily during sleep, can also lead to an increased need for sleep. That's because it disrupts the normal sleep cycle.
Of course, not everyone who oversleeps has a sleep disorder. Other possible causes of oversleeping include the use of certain substances, such as alcohol and some prescription medications. Other medical conditions, including depression, can cause people to oversleep. And then there are people who simply enjoy sleeping for long periods of time.
Medical Problems Linked to Oversleeping
Diabetes. In a study of almost 9,000 Americans, researchers found a relationship between sleep and the risk of diabetes. People who slept more than nine hours each night had a 50% greater risk of diabetes than people who slept seven hours per night. This increased risk was also seen in people who slept less than five hours per night. The researchers did not draw conclusions about the physiological link between long sleep and diabetes. But they did suggest that oversleeping could be indicative of underlying medical problems that increase the likelihood of diabetes.
Obesity. Sleeping too much could make you weigh too much, as well. One recent study showed that people who slept for nine or 10 hours every night were 21% more likely to become obese over a six-year period than were people who slept between seven and eight hours. This association between sleep and obesity remained the same even when food intake and exercise were taken into account
Headaches. For some people prone to headaches, sleeping longer than usual on a weekend or vacation can cause head pain. Researchers believe this is due to the effect oversleeping has on certain neurotransmitters in the brain, including serotonin. People who sleep too much during the day and disrupt their nighttime sleep may also find themselves suffering from headaches in the morning.
Back pain. There was a time when doctors told people suffering from back pain to head straight to bed. But those days are long gone. You do need to curtail your regular exercise program when you are experiencing back pain. But doctors now realize the health benefits of maintaining a certain level of activity. And they recommend against sleeping more than usual, when possible.
Depression. Although insomnia is more commonly linked to depression than oversleeping, roughly 15% of people with depression sleep too much. This may in turn make their depression worse. That's because regular sleep habits are important to the recovery process. Need another reason not to overdo the ZZZs when you're blue? In certain instances, sleep deprivation can be an effective treatment for depression.
Heart disease. The Nurses' Health Study involved nearly 72,000 women. A careful analysis of the data from that study showed that women who slept nine to 11 hours per night were 38% more likely to have coronary heart disease than women who slept eight hours. Researchers have not yet identified a reason for the connection between oversleeping and heart disease.
Death. Multiple studies have found that people who sleep nine or more hours a night have significantly higher death rates than people sleeping seven to eight hours a night. No specific reason for this correlation has been determined. But researchers found that depression and low socioeconomic status are also associated with longer sleep. They speculate these factors could be related to the observed increase in mortality for people who sleep too much.
Get the Benefits of Sleep Without Oversleeping
If you average more than seven or eight hours of sleep per night, see a doctor for a checkup. The doctor can help you determine why you oversleep.
If your oversleeping is caused by alcohol or certain prescription medications, cutting back on or eliminating the use of these substances may help. Similarly, if your oversleeping is caused by an underlying medical condition, treating this disorder may allow you to return to normal sleep habits.
Regardless of the cause of your oversleeping, practicing good sleep hygiene will help you reap the benefits of a healthy seven to eight hours of sleep each night. Experts recommend keeping the same bedtimes and wake times every day. They also recommend avoiding caffeine and alcohol close to bedtime. Exercising regularly and making your bedroom a comfortable environment that's conducive to sleep will help you get the amount of sleep you need.
How to Stop Oversleeping
Most of the cures for oversleeping are actually pretty simple, but they do the trick.
The main problem people have with oversleeping just like with insomnia is just not knowing what to do to cure it. Once you’ve found the right treatment for you, it’s just a matter of sticking with it.
You can use them all of the suggestions below or just one or two. Pick the ones that feel right to you.
Change the way you feel about sleep
Understand what sleep actually is and what it’s there for. You need it to survive and function. The less sleep you need to survive and function, the better.
The problem is that too many people fall in love with sleep. They love the feeling of being nice and comfy in bed. That’s great, but too sleep has plenty of nasty effects.
Getting the right amount of sleep is a bit of a balancing act. It needs to be within the 7 to 9 hours range, although it changes from person to person. Anything more or less than what you need and you’re not getting the right amount of sleep.
You can’t just “sleep the sleep off”. Any more or less that what you need and you’ll feel rubbish and have the nasty side effects that come with it.
Create the intention when you go to bed to receive just the right amount of sleep you need. When you wake up at the right time, know that your need for sleep has been fulfilled and that it’s time to wake up and start the day.
Plan your day
By planning your days, you’ll a give yourself a good reason to get up. If you don’t plan anything, it’s all too easy to think “what’s the point of getting up” and just go back to sleep.
Creating a task list at the end of each day for what you’d like to achieve tomorrow really helps you get up in the morning. As soon as you wake up, take a look at your task list and you’ll immediately have loads of reasons why getting up straight away would be a really good idea.
I’m a bit of a productivity freak so I’ve tried pretty much every to do list software and system out there but my current favorite is Toodledo. I tend to use my online task list as a central repository for my tasks and my notepad for what I need to get done today, but there’s tons of time management techniques out there. David Allen’s book Getting Things Done is home to one of the most popular time management systems, so if you new to this David Allen’s book is a great place to start.
If you have nothing to do, make it your goal to find something to do. Start a new project, find new clubs and activities that interest you, discover what you want to do in life and find out what you can to do to achieve it. Head down to your local library and find books on discovering your life’s propose Rome wasn’t built in a day, so allow yourself to take things one step at a time.
Optimise your wake up routine
You should only wake up when you’ve had enough hours sleep. So set your alarm clock to go off once you’ve had 7 to 9 hours sleep. Not before and not after.
As soon as you wake up, open your curtains to let in as much natural light as possible. This lets your body know that it’s morning and stops melatonin, a hormone which makes you feel sleepy.
A great way of optimising your wake up routine is to actually practise it, just like you would rehearse for a stage play. You can do this by setting your alarm clock to go off in a few minutes time, going to bed and getting up as soon as it goes off. Do this 10 times and I guarantee your wake up routine will be optimised. It works by getting your brain to associate the sound of the alarm with waking up to the point where waking up becomes a completely automatic response to your alarm. Its spooky how well this works. The next article in this series How to get up as soon as your alarm goes off explains this technique in more detail.
Practising this physically is one way, but hypnosis takes it to a whole new level. Doing the above technique in your mind while under hypnosis amazingly effective. Donna Lee’s wake up fresh & Alert hypnosis download lets you do just that. Whats more it’s all contained within a deeply relaxing and deliciously soothing 30 minute session. If want to take the fast track to programming yourself to wake up straight away in the morning, I really recommend you check it out. I own this MP3 myself and it has been invaluable to me.
Keep to regular sleep timings
Having a regular sleep pattern keeps your sleep and wake times predictable making it easier to wake up and go to sleep each night.
If you’ve got a problem with oversleeping it can be hard to imagine waking up full of energy, but once you’ve got good sleep timing that’s what naturally happens.
Some people find it easier than others to stick to a regular sleep pattern. Just like some people are more prone to insomnia than others. But the concepts are the same for everyone.
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