Sufferers Of Sleep Problems Ask How Much Sleep Do I Need

If you're wondering 'How much sleep do I need?' then you may have been told time and time again that you should be getting 8 hours of sleep at night, but is this really true? If this is the case most of the adult population is sleep deprived as the average number hours of sleep per night is 6.9. Fact is we are all different, some people may require less, others may need more.

The amount of sleep needed depends on several factors including; your age, diet, amount of exercise you get, how mentally engaged you are throughout the day, whether you are still growing and how much quality deep sleep you are attaining.

There is no generic answer believe it or not, we are not robots- each person is different. Sleep is important for growth and development. As a general note babies require 10 to 14 hours of sleep per night. Children may need 9 to 12 hours and adults between 7 to 9 hours. As we get older we generally sleep less, however this is not to say we don't require as much sleep! Most of us experience sleep debt during the week which we often try and make up on the weekend by sleeping in.

However there are some people who have highly stressful or demanding jobs and lead full lives that sleep only 6 hours of sleep a night and feel great in the day. The key to feeling great in the day is not the amount of sleep attained but the quality of sleep. 5 hours of undisturbed restful sleep is far more beneficial than 9 hours of fragmented and light sleep. The key stage in rejuvenation and restoration during sleep is deep sleep.

You may have experienced mornings where you have woken up from a poor night sleep and felt aches and pains throughout your body. This is more than likely because you missed out on deep sleep which is vital for restoration. During deep sleep our body and mind is at the most inactive and it is truly at the most restful stage. Furthermore most of our blood is redirected to our muscles. The increased blood flow in the muscles restores muscular energy.