There's no denying that humans require rest. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, it is critical for our mental and physical health, quality of life, and overall safety. Sleep increases learning, supports the immune system, helps the heart and blood vessels repair themselves, fosters a healthy balance of hunger hormones, and helps the heart and blood vessels repair themselves.
According to the Sleep Foundation, seven to nine hours of sleep per night is sufficient for most individuals, however your age, activity level, and health might change that objective in any direction.
While sleep deprivation is a common problem (due to all the aforementioned health benefits of sleep), sleeping too much can also be harmful. Oversleeping is defined by the Sleep Foundation as sleeping for more than nine hours in a 24-hour period.
You've probably done it before while your body was fighting a cold or recovering from a hectic work week or a busy travel weekend. Oversleeping is common in those circumstances, according to Safia Khan, MD, a sleep problem specialist and assistant professor in the departments of family and community medicine and neurology at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
"Recovery sleep" is defined as "getting up late just to catch up on your sleep," according to Dr Khan. "However, if you do that on a regular basis and sleep more than eight or nine hours every day, you're oversleeping."
Oversleeping: What Causes It?
"When someone says they're sleeping more than nine hours a night, the most common causes we look at are medication side effects or medical, psychiatric, or neurological disorders," says Ulysses Magalang, MD, director of the sleep disorders programme at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. "If those aren't the culprits, a sleep issue could be the culprit."
Oversleeping is most commonly associated with the following underlying health issues, according to the Sleep Foundation and Johns Hopkins Medicine:
- Obesity
- Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a condition that affect
- Diabetes
- Restless leg syndrome is a type of restless leg syndrome.
- Bruxism is a condition in which a person grinds their (teeth grinding or clenching)P
- Pain that lasts a long time
- Sleep deprivation (such as sleep apnea, insomnia, or narcolepsy)
- Hypothyroidism
- Anxiety or depression
How frequent is it for people to oversleep? Oversleeping was reported by 8.4% of the approximately 20,000 participants in a study published in Annals of Neurology (sleeping for nine or more hours per day). When compared to those who slept less, people with mood disorders were three to twelve times more likely to oversleep and two to four times more likely to have a poor quality of life.
Oversleeping can also be caused by hypersomnia (or excessive daytime drowsiness), delayed sleep phase syndrome, an unstable hormone balance, Parkinson's disease, or dementia, according to Khan.
Symptoms of Excessive Sleeping:
While sleeping more than nine hours each night on a regular basis is a red flag, it's not the only one to watch out for. Sleeping for more than nine hours a night isn't always a bad thing.
Some people require more sleep than others by nature. "About 2% of the population are 'long sleepers,' who need 10 to 12 hours of sleep per night," says Shanon Makekau, MD, chief of pulmonology and sleep medicine director at Kaiser Permanente in Honolulu.
Oversleeping is unavoidable for these persons. "Trying to enforce a typical seven- to nine-hour sleep schedule on such persons can be harmful and essentially results in a sleep debt," explains Dr Makekau. You're probably a long sleeper if you sleep more than nine hours per night and wake up feeling refreshed and relaxed.
Why Is It Dangerous To Sleep Too Much?
"While persistently receiving less than the recommended amount of sleep has been linked to a variety of negative health consequences," Makekau writes, "sleeping more than nine hours per night on a regular basis may also be harmful."
Oversleeping, she claims, can lead to:
- Low energy and increased weariness
- Immune system dysfunction
- Stress reaction changes
- Chronic disorders such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity are at an increased risk.
- Death risk is higher.
What to Do If You Think You've Been Sleeping Too Much
The Cleveland Clinic suggests trying to get your sleeping back on track yourself by:
- Avoiding the snooze button
- Waking up at the same time every day — weekends included
- Embracing natural light when you wake up and avoiding it close to bedtime
If you still find yourself oversleeping regularly after making these changes, schedule a visit with your primary care physician. Dr Magalang says doctors will typically employ a process of elimination to rule out conditions in order to determine the underlying issue.
Your doctor will likely start by performing a physical exam, reviewing medications that may affect sleep, and discussing further testing, including blood work, Makekau says.
He or she will want to know details about your sleep habits. Khan suggests keeping a sleep diary for at least two weeks before the appointment and noting how much you’re sleeping and the quality of that sleep.
Then, he or she may give you a referral to a sleep clinic or recommend you have a sleep study done, Khan says. A sleep study can help rule out sleep disorders, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
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