Do You Really Need 8 Hours of Sleep Every Night? | Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter | TED

[@hawsh3066]

I experienced a lot of sleep routines to try and fix my low energy and mild depression, I tried sleeping 10, 8, 4... I found the best for me is 4-6 hours a night, waking up at sunrise, and taking a 0.5 to 1.50 hour nap mid-day or 5 to 6 hours after waking up. So everyone is different in the end.

[@ethanpatch6840]

how do you maintain a sleep schedule like this with school and/or work

[@ChemistTea]

Are you in siestaland? In Italy they just close from 1-4 lol I guess to sleep

[@meritocratik]

no

[@suhaasvemuri7980]

Yeah, I function THE BEST on 6 and a half hours of sleep every night but can't always get that much cuz of school and studying. I usually get 5.5 - 6 hours of sleep, which kinda contributes to my depression, along with severe anxiety and ADHD. But I can still make it through the day lol, just not how I want to.

[@DiavalloX]

@NoBoDy yeahh tell that to someone who works full time 💪💪💪

[@allinone-qz2gi]

Dr. Gunter hit the nail on the head - at least for me. Worrying about how much sleep I was getting was causing me anxiety and causing me to lose even more sleep!

[@nahor88]

People also love to criminalize staying up late and sleeping in. I regularly stay up to 3-4am and wake up at 10am, and I feel FINE.

[@wiegraffolles9822]

Funny that Dr Gunter doesn’t mention she is a Gynecologist and some of her main points are contradictory to what neuroscientists say.

[@killeraloo3247]

same.

[@niesahanumm]

Sameee

[@pixelzebra8440]

Same I got like 6 hours one day and 3 hours the next this week bc I was so worried about not getting enough sleep

[@RanUlfran]

I love how we're talking about sleeping less than 8 being fine. And here I am feeling like I need 9 hours every night or I'm exhausted

[@kripeshkr.3865]

Us moment

[@joelpetersmedia]

Yeah I feel that. I really need 10 hours/night but realistically I just can't do that so I just end up exhausted all the time.

[@victoiretrrt5702]

same. if ideally really need twelve hours to feel completely rested; and if i sleep less than 10 hours i end up yawning every five minutes

[@nhuquynhnguyen4349]

@@victoiretrrt5702 thought im the only one, i really thing im getting mental health problems

[@silent1823]

Its might be health related

[@MishelFayad]

I need 8.5 hours night sleep + a nap during the day, but most people think it's too much. I think it's absolutely ok. Unfortunately social pressure can make you think there's something wrong because you deviate from the norm...

[@fionasmith6686]

If it makes you feel better, this is also my sleep routine. I used to feel guilty about it being too much, but it's actually what I need. If I get less I become emotionally unstable and tired and get stressed easily

[@majormajor7925]

I need a minimum of 8 hrs of sleep to be fully functional, and for some reason if I happen to sleep after lunch my entire day after that when I wake up is ruined!

[@alejandrorojasmillan507]

I make same I dont care society saids

[@alexjames1397]

Child I need more than 8 hours.

[@madame4883]

I’m a 19 year old university student and I sleep for 9-10 hours..

[@Adurnis]

“Average” means sometimes more, sometimes less.

[@dariuschong4574]

Damn you get sleep in uni? I'm jealous.

[@Elizabeth-jk4yj]

@@madame4883 can u please explain how u sleep for 9 hours, u instantly fall asleep?

[@sabharinath9814]

I sleep 5 hours a day

[@claradahlberg-garde8993]

The amount of sleep you need also varies, depending on what you do during the day. For example, if I've been very physically active, if I've cycled a lot and trained 2-3 hours in the gym, I know I need at least 9 hours of sleep to feel well rested the next morning

[@nijiiro2134]

Personally even slight changes in how I thought about sleep before and after watching a KZbin video (so behavioral therapy) helped me way more than I thought it would. The advice was don’t look at a clock or think about how much sleep you will get and just focus on getting the sleep you can get by just going 💤 right now :)

[@ffffffffffff691]

that works just thinking even if i dont fall asleep im stil getting rest so it doesnt matter helps,the best way though is to drain yourself mentally and pfisically,i think that people with sleeping problems just arnet stimulated enough in thier day to day so exercize and fill your brain with knowledge its a gift,if you have any modivational problems with exercize or anything i can tell you the secret to modivation its not what most people think

[@MineCraft-nz9pg]

Wow ,literally every night ,I am always too worried that i wouldn't get enough and then i stress out !!,making me unable to sleep 😩

[@GarryLarryBarry]

I try not think sleep as the mission of laying down at night, rather enjoy the awake resting that I am experiencing and comfort of being in bed.

[@BrandonNyman]

@@ffffffffffff691 then what is it? Don't just end on that

[@yousefalokaili2856]

@@GarryLarryBarry fax

[@user-sw9wi1ni2y]

We don't care about the hours. We care to have the opportunity to rest, sleep eat like a normal person (not a sandwich on one hand) and go for a walk. Fast living has gone too far.

[@sugarshush750]

I am really conscious about how much of sleep hours I get every night. I always make sure that I have at least 7 hours of sleep every night. Yet I tend to wonder most of the time why I still feel sleepy throughout the day even though I have the suggested "required" amount of sleep. Thank you Doc for enlightening us even more. It's not about quantity, it's about the quality!

[@zumabbar]

i think you're still a quite bit wrong. It's not JUST about quantity, it's ALSO about the quality.

[@themagnificentorange672]

@@zumabbar Exactly

[@wobblestone3148]

doing boring, repetitive, or physically/intellectually exhaustive work will also make you feel sleepy. the human brain is just stupid it doesn't like being productive

[@thatperson9835]

well. people are the only creatures who limit themselves of the amound of sleep. we are born to make a few naps during the day. That's what all the animals do and so should we. During the university term I take 1-2 20-minutes naps thoughout the day even when I get an 8 hour sleep.

[@boofboyriq]

@@wobblestone3148so true I get tired whenever studying or editing a video

[@1985reidy]

I watched a lot of Matthew Walker, a scientist that talks about sleep who stated that anything short of 8 hours is one step closer to long term damage. As a result I became obsessed/anxious, which then made me get less sleep with the end result in me becoming an insomniac. In time, I learned to reassure myself that getting 6 (which is what I was originally getting) is absolutely fine and was optimal for me. This video is very reassuring to the worriers out there. Make time for your sleep, but certainly don't obsess over it and ignore this 8 hour nonsense. You will have those bad days, we all do and thats ok. You're going to be fine!

[@wiegraffolles9822]

She's a Gynecologist so I wouldn't take what she says too seriously. It's easy to fall victim to confirmation bias. "The number of people who can survive on 6 hours of sleep or less without showing any impairment, rounded to a whole number and expressed as a percent of the population is ZERO." -Neuroscientist Matthew Walker

[@ashberrychapman7117]

Thanks. Excellent. We are 99.9% plasma, not atoms. Energy is understood properly by no one. See Robert Temple's 2022 book A New Science Of Heaven. It's a soul thing. Love from Alan Chapman x

[@fear_less_2020]

Thanks for the video. This was really needed. The worry of not getting enough sleep indeed causes lesser sleep and more worry.

[@c187aothianhthu3]

Thanks to TED producer, I am trying to enhance my vocabulary ranges by listening to TED videos everyday. I hope that in the nearby future, I can listen to it without discription...

[@harppen1928]

I just get home from school on the evening, so i always sleep late for practicing my drawing skill at night. People told that can cause serious diseases, but i feel genuinely fine every day. This video is a relief :D

[@a14calaoaganmaryalthea44]

same here

[@umahmuslimah]

How old are you?

[@harppen1928]

@@umahmuslimah i'm 17 :)

[@hi_k_w9984]

I remember that when I was a child I was so obsessed to fall asleep by 9:30 pm that I used to beat my head to make me cry and lose energy from that, and being tired enough to fall asleep more quickly. That in the years falled into a strong self harm habit. But now that I'm older I learned to not worry if some days I can't sleep and this actually helped me to fall asleep more often. It's incredible how much we complicate our life sometimes. I wish that my parents where present and taught me to have balance in every part of my day. But I'm also happy that people can learn from videos like this nowadays. :)

[@jlvandat69]

This information aligns very well with my experience. I seldom sleep more than 6 hours, but it's always high quality sleep and I never become drowsy through the day. So, Dr. Gunter's advice is a real breath of fresh air. THANK YOU!

[@Ghonosyphlaids]

It should be noted that the number of people who don't actually need more than 6 hours of sleep is far lower than the number of people that believe they don't. That is to say, don't assume because you're operating 'fine' on 6 hours a night, that that is a healthy and optimal amount of sleep for you. Ofc, you could be the exception OP, this statement isn't directed at you specifically.

[@profbfc]

Im surprised you even clicked on the video when you don't need any help with sleep

[@itsmanasK]

@@Ghonosyphlaids Could you please explain how to know what is the optimum amount of sleep needed for our body?

[@Ghonosyphlaids]

@@itsmanasK Loads of studies have been done on it, if you've got access to journals. As laymen, trying different sleep lengths for a couple weeks at a time and keeping a journal of how they make you feel is helpful. We also have the benefit of wearable tech that can help us approximate how much REM sleep we're getting. The issue is that a lot of people will get 6 hours, say they 'feel fine', and assume that's the amount of sleep they need. When in reality, more sleep would actually make them feel substantially better, and curtail the negative health effects associated with too little rest.

[@itsmanasK]

@@Ghonosyphlaids So what's the optimum REM sleep that we need?

[@estebanpar06]

Finally some thoughtful advice on how to embrace sleep. In the past I got insanely obsessed with falling asleep and i would get anxious for every minute that passed still awake. I fell vicitm to those articles they mentioned about the consequences of poor sleep and in the end, I figured out by myself that the best solution is not to force the moment of falling asleep but rather do calming activities like reading or meditating while your body feels ready for rest.

[@samuelzev4076]

Sleep problems are prevalent these days because we live in a culture that glorifies the night life and if you’re working or studying such sleep problems are glorified and considered a badge of honor that signifies hard work but it really signifies poor health.

[@IronWill-n5k]

Hopefully yes. That’s definitely going to take a toll on my body if I don’t.

[@sst-du9bz]

What about those who sleep more than 8 hours? I need to sleep 10 hours in order to feel rested. I’ve always had people telling me that’s not normal, but genuinely feel sleep deprived if I only had 8 or 9 hours

[@Warrior_Resisting_Colonialism]

She literally says 8 hrs is average. This means some people need less like she pointed out, but she did fail to mention if that's average, that also means some need more. Your body knows what it needs. Do whatever feels natural to feel well and fully rested. Many people are cutting themselves short on sleep these days, that's the main problem today.

[@selfelements8037]

@@Warrior_Resisting_Colonialism Agreed. The lack of sleep is the main issue today, not otherwise. It's why I don't agree with this video.

[@LoyalUK]

Stoner?

[@Gandhi_Physique]

@@selfelements8037 You don't agree with the video that basically says do what makes you feel rested?

[@MrOlleyOlley]

Even though this is could be normal and healthy for you sleeping too much can be an indicator for a physical health or mental health condition. There may be something that is reducing the quality of your sleep. Things I see frequently is poor sleep routines, too much caffeine and or too much caffeine before bed time, too much and too frequent alcohol consumption. Has anyone complained about snoring?

[@anahitbaghdasaryan5067]

There are so many things that effect our sleep and also helps in sleep. But, worrying about not getting proper sleep is far worse than staying awake. One should be able to find out what is affecting sleep rather trying hard to get sleep. There are a few reasons why we don't get good sleep. Among them are less of physical activities, too much of attachment with gadgets, anxiety etc. It is wrong to follow the “trend” of the 7-8 hour sleep without doing the proper research. Each person has go find their perfect sleep timing and worry less about what social media has promoted.

[@hayax]

We need more videos like this that combat the scare tactics that modern news outlets (and even medical sources) use on the internet to generate clicks for ad revenue. This is a huge issue that doesn't get addressed often and makes things worse when the existence of information should make things better.

[@galihgalih5787]

😞😞😞

[@Samantha-vlly]

I notice these past few weeks that I feel refreshed when I got 8-9 hours of sleep sometimes. Probably it’s my right sleep duration

[@Salmontres]

What this video taught me is that I should be worried about worrying too much about sleep... Now I'll spend the rest of the night reading about how to worry less while not sleeping.

[@aleks_stanislaw4270]

My friend, dont worry about it. I know it may be hard at the start, but try to think about other, positive things. This video should also teach you that its all about quality and not quantity.

[@Siroitin]

Or try to worry in a bad way. If you drink too much coffee, you could pour more milk into the coffee. One day you realize that you are drinking milk with coffee (because the amount of coffee compared to milk is so minimal)

[@cristianmartinezlugo3463]

I support your thoughts on this matter because, in my particular case, I do need 7-8 hours of sleep. If I sleep for 6 hours or less, I will feel tired and fruitless throughout the day . I also feel like my immune system weakens.

[@mehdiazad75]

This video was a sigh of relief for me cause i have been obsessed with sleep tracking and when to wake up..... Cause when i slept for 5 hour i always felt i'm lacking something or i started to say to myself, OMG i didn't sleep enough. While i was genuinely fine during the night.

[@mish6568]

I agree with her. My sleep routine was 6 hours of sleep and I felt amazing! But when I tried to sleep between 7 to 9 hours it made me more tired and messed up my daily routine.

[@TVTim86]

I've always found I sleep an average of 6 hours. Regardless of what time I fall asleep, 6 hours later I will wake up. I almost never wake up within that 6 hour cycle, and when I wake up I'm unlikely to fall back to sleep and feel refreshed. I don't see my 6 hours compared to the average 8 as a bad thing, it's just what I need. Plus, over a lifetime of say 70 years, that's an extra 5.8 years of conciousness which I'd much rather have

[@atomplayz850]

THIS LITERALLY ANSWERED MY QUESTION. EVERYDAY I ALWAYS WOKE UP AT 5 AND I SLEPT USUALLY AT 11 PM. I WATCHED SO MANY VIDEOS SAYING ALLL THESE RANDOM THINGS BUT THEY NEVER HELPED. I REALISED THAT EVEN THOUGH I NEVER SLEPT FOR 8 HOURS I STILL USED TO BE DAMNN PRODUCTIVE. Thank you so much!

[@ilyassealdidi]

The basic questions you should ask yourself are: - Do I feel reasonably well-rested during the day? - Do I generally sleep through the night without disturbances? or if I wake, do I fall back asleep easily? - Can I stay awake through the day without involuntarily falling asleep?

[@christoffelhendrickx]

if you fall asleep involuntarily then you have an illness called narcolepsis... no normal person will black out just from a lack of sleep... you ll experience some yawning, light headaches, irritability and lack of focus and energy but no one falls asleep without allowing themselves to nap lol

[@Pfyzer]

Could be an environment issue. Had the same thing, felt always tired going to sleep and waking up. Could be a lot of factors but one that stuck up with me was i cleaned my room before sleeping and i woke up pretty nicely... could be just me, but after that i make my bed every time i wake up. And eventually settle on having a japanese shikifuton as a bed, my back never felt better and it's foldable so i have extra room in my tiny studio, i breathe easily and mind seems pretty fresh

[@TerryProthero]

@@christoffelhendrickx That's not at all true. People fall asleep in front of their computer or watching television all the time. I have on a number of occasions. If you are tired enough, you will fall asleep the moment you are relaxed enough. People with sleep apnea do it all the time. So will anyone else who hasn't had enough sleep for any other reason. Then after they have adequate sleep, they stop doing that. Narcolepsy is a completely different condition. It happens even if you have adequate sleep. It's because your body is failing to control your sleep cycle properly. So a person randomly falls asleep even if it makes no sense to do so. Typically for a short duration.

[@b_d]

​@@TerryProthero "If you are tired enough, you will fall asleep the moment you are relaxed enough" exactly! heck i've even blacked out while taking a shower once (luckily i didnt fall nor injured myself), which was shocking as i thought that wasnt possible to happen while having water pouring on you... but as you said i was EXTREMELY tired, and at a very relaxing moment. at that episode in particular i pretty much must have had something like 2/3 hours of sleep the night before, followed by an all nighter.. so it was definetely an overkill situation (i was taking a shower before going to bed to finally have my proper night of sleep though). a bit off topic but during that day i've experienced very similar symptoms as being mildly drunk (heart racing, dizziness) due to the sleep deprivation. not cool

[@boencao6553]

@@christoffelhendrickx that’s not true. When I experienced jet lag traveling between Asia and North America, I usually involuntarily fall asleep sitting in the car

[@googeye]

I suffered from a sleep problem when I was setting an alarm, he used to tell me that after four or two hours he would alert me, and this terrified me, but after this video, thank God, I noticed that it does not harm me if I sleep for two hours, and this is good.... But after that, at noon, I sleep for at least four hours, and at that time I was facing a problem, but I solved it, praise be to God, and I wish you to set a time for waking up and sleeping when you do not find enough time ... Honestly, I don't know why I spoke so long, but thank you and goodbye .... I warn you, sleep well, and I wish you sweet dreams...

[@walidthejoker5211]

I used to be overwhelmingly obsessed with the idea of sleeping 7 solid hours, but later on after a friend recommendation, I tried sleeping for 4 hours and then I would stay awake for a couple of hours before returning to bed again and sleeping for 2 hours. Results are fascinating

[@cWjkL8ysxOkrH66]

how is that any good when a full REM cycle is 3 hours long? you're waking up mid-cycle 2x per night

[@walidthejoker5211]

@@cWjkL8ysxOkrH66 Nevertheless, I'm amazingly performing my tasks without any issues and that's what matters.

[@etta5487]

​@@cWjkL8ysxOkrH66 The average is 90 minutes so not sure where you're getting 3 hours. And either way, that's an average. It varies greatly from person to person. So if this is working perfectly for this individual, why force them into a different situation that wont work? Because of a statistic? That is exactly how we DON"T want medicine to be practiced. Everyone is an individual, everyone is different.

[@KeepingOnTheWatch]

This is what people in medieval Europe did. Essentially there were two sleeps during the dark/night hours. Our idea of getting a solid, uninterrupted 7-8 hours of sleep isn’t always achievable.

[@mattarellopazzosgravato9041]

@@etta5487 mine goes over 3 especially if I sleep around 8 hours

[@jungookookie413]

My nighttime sleep duration is only 4 hours. If I try to get back to sleep, usually I will experience night terrors, and it makes me feel extremely tired when I wake up. Morning black coffee and 10 mins nap time after lunch sustain my body. Last month I did medical check up and everything’s fine, I’m 27 yo btw.

[@DirtyPoul]

It sounds to me that you're cutting off your sleep after deep sleep and then don't get your REM sleep. That shouldn't be fine no. It's probably not the end of the world, and the body is bloody good at adapting. But it's far from ideal. I'd take the advice from the other commenter and see if that helps.

[@jungookookie413]

@@misheeltubshinbaatar6620 most likely it will change to another dreams. I don’t remember the exact stories now, but I had woke up 3 times with 3 different dreams in the span of 30 mins. I can hear voices and even smell in my dreams, the worst one was the smell of a corpse passing me. I tried to wake up by praying hard, my heart was pounding fast and sometimes I cry when the night terror was very creepy. It’s hard to go back to sleep

[@jungookookie413]

@@misheeltubshinbaatar6620 thanks for the advice, I’m working on it

[@ottoyisanoba5902]

​@jungookookie413 how are you feeling now?

[@nishvanth]

So refreshing to hear this. I always though why should all the adults need to sleep 8 hours even though everyone is built differently. I know lots of people who are just fine with 5-6 hours of sleep.

[@marymaria8995]

others need 9 or 10 hours 😬

[@lalchungnungaralte9104]

The part about how worrying about not sleeping enough stops us from sleeping, THAT i felt

[@hannuback]

I don't have trouble sleeping, it's just that I'm nocturnal and like to sleep until noon at least. If I fall asleep before midnight, it's just a nap for 2-3 hours and then I'm awake for hours. This wouldn't be a problem, but sometimes I have to go to work in the morning and that often means only few hours of sleep. At least I have a job that's often in the evening, so I get to sleep "late". I had a job where I had to wake up in the morning, but I never got used to it although I did it for almost a year. I had trouble with sleep already when I was in school, so it's not something I can change, but it helps to know that my sleep pattern is like that. For too long I tried to force myself into being a morning person, but all my sleeping problems went away when I just allowed myself to sleep until noon.

[@RahulKumar-pj7ch]

If you really so curious about your work you will never ever get tiredness and feel dull so it is all about purpose

[@aaronlhinrichsen]

What I hate about sleep is that growing up, people always told us that 8 hours is what you should have nothing less, nothing more, whereas in reality it really depends on the individual alone... Some work with 4 hours of sleep just fine whereas another person needs 10 hours instead, I always tried to have 8 hours because that's always what people said, but later I found out that it was to much for me. I remember one time my school made a campaign about how 8 hours of sleep was essential to everyone to have you brain function properly, and if they found out some of us would sleep less that 8 hours, then they would scold us about how less that 8 hours is bad for your health, and how you don't live long with less that 8 lol.

[@alejandrinodaneelsa968]

Because of some random things I’ve searched on the internet saying lack if sleep could lead to being dumb and less life expectancy, I’ve been obsessed with my sleep duration for a year. In that year, I had a lots of mental breakdown and anxiety that would eat me up everyday, worrying about how many hours of sleep i got last night, if it’s less than 8, I would freak out and get paranoid about it and want to make up for my loss sleep in next night. and if I couldn’t make up to it, i would start becoming more paranoid thinking i am sleep deprived already, and because I was so anxious about it, I can’t sleep at night until morning comes. Because of my obsession of my sleep quality, my mind would be awake all night thinking about how bad I want to sleep, thinking if i could ever have a good quality sleep. I suffered for a year, sometimes I could even go 2 days of not sleeping because I would always think I can’t sleep, so I really couldn’t sleep. I’ve been asking every one of my family for help, and they did, but they never took me to a therapist because they have this mindset that therapist are for crazy people and you’re crazy if you’re getting therapy. I wish I have watched this video sooner, it would have helped a lot back then. I’m glad that I’m slowly healing from it and can sleep at night without worrying about my sleep.

[@dontjayjayme]

for the last half a year or so I thought I had really bad sleep and try to go to bed super early and still be really exhausted during the day. until finally i went to the doctor to get my blood checked and turns out i have ferritin and vitamin d deficiencies. been on supplement for about two weeks now and it's crazy how it's changed my energy levels

[@acciotardisalohomora6302]

I love this video. I was diagnosed with 2 sleeping disorders and I only ever get restful quality of sleep if I sleep during the day and everyone including my parents try and tell me its unhealthy etc, but my Doctor says the opposite. Given the jet lag feeling I have when awake during the day since my body produces melatonin during the day. The doctor only told me to make sure I have enough sunlight and vitamins since I am typically only awake for 2-5hours of sunlight.

[@ffffffffffff691]

i sleep in the day a lot to but i believe its becaus when others are awake they put energy in to the quantum field and my time at night is more productive,quantom fisics sez we are all conected so theres less bad energy in the quantom field at night

[@KMBence]

Mordern Nocturnalism sounds like it would slap ngl

[@liborlibor1821]

@@ffffffffffff691 Jesus (just a word, not religious), please stop with this quantum physics nonsense. Quantum physics in reality focuses on studying particle states and their behavior on the micro level. It does not have any conections whatsoever with "energy" between people. Don't believe everything someone who looks smart and talks magic words says, trust common sense and actual scientific data.

[@ffffffffffff691]

@@liborlibor1821 gday libor libor,check out dr joe dispenza he is an amazing doctor who is bridging the gap between spirituality and science,one of his concepts is the energy we put out in to the quantam field,by your attitude your not open to new things and thats one of the problems with the world today so you wont check out dr joe dispenza while i wish you would

[@ffffffffffff691]

@@liborlibor1821 oh and micro particles are in the air we all breathe

[@TheStrongerSelf01]

"You need 8 hours of sleep or else (insert tragedy here)" has caused millions of people more sickness. Forget this. There a millions of people who live on 4 hrs of sleep or less. People are different. It's not a one size fits all.

[@alyamakesmusic2303]

this is such a relief! I am often super worried about the amount of hours I'm gonna get when I go to bed. if it's even a little less then 8, I start to get anxious and think about how it might ruin my day tomorrow. though I do feel tired during the day, it's because I go to bed a bit late cause of school work. I've also been worried about taking naps, as they might be bad for ur night sleep etc. but I think we all should listen to our body and find what feels good for US!

[@JY-tq4ir]

"I experienced a lot of sleep routines to try and fix my low energy and mild depression, I tried sleeping 10, 8, 4... I found the best for me is 4-6 hours a night, waking up at sunrise, and taking a 0.5 to 1.50 hour nap mid-day or 5 to 6 hours after waking up. So everyone is different in the end." But having all of that sleep data is causing some people to become obsessed with it, so much so that it’s leading to a condition some call orthosomnia: a preoccupation with the constant need to achieve perfect sleep. And this condition, ironically, is causing more sleep problems. orthosomnia might be an extreme example, but the anxiety of not getting enough sleep is keeping some of us up at night. experts are saying. Stop fixating on the number because that can lead to unrealistic expectations of sleep.

[@b1gb017]

that's boss. I get ~6.5 hours of sleep a night according to my watch but generally feel quite well rested, so am pleased to have it confirmed that that's all I need 😎

[@theunknown21329]

I'm an endurance athlete and I sleep 11hrs(9+2) combined. Everyone needs different amounts and depends on one's lifestyle.

[@jasonwilcox6637]

I generally don't sleep a lot through the week, but the weekend it's slumbering time. I take cbd, so even when I don't, I still feel great

[@gonelocoffs]

Thank you for this. I'm used to being told that I'm not sleeping enough as if I'm not healthy. I'm the 6h model, with some periods of insomnia when life gets... lifey :) I've always felt provoked when someone thinks they know what I need better than I do myself.

[@AlisonBryen]

Exactly this. I get 6 hours on a work night, and I generally feel fine on this.

[@robertcopter5127]

Thank you for this video. I've been worried, because I'm fully rested with only 6 hours of sleep.

[@LoyalUK]

Sometimes the best sleep I have is 12 hours after staying up for 2 days, but then a 5 min power nap can make you feel completely refreshed.

[@Galissa2010]

1:41 the first one have purple cover you have to sleep like that every day and night and years and weeks and months and days

[@nightman8612]

Sleeping 4 hours and slowly loosing memory in my early forties. My eyes burn the whole day.... This lady probably sleeps well.

[@AllouhaX]

depends on the environment dry weather = less sleeping time ()

[@Lo-FiChillVibes]

｡✧*.｡My life lesson｡✧*.｡:: I've stopped listening to music that have -too much words in-, which have improved my life fr. Ppl don't really think about how much music actually impact our thoughts, like majority of the lyrics are negative and toxic (same goes with TV-series/shows and movies ). I hope this helps someone who’s stuck with toxic music. Peace and love.

[@ahmadalsarraj3652]

Finally, Someone talked about this.

[@debajitkumardas8649]

There are so many things that effect our sleep and also helps in sleep. But, worrying about not getting proper sleep is far worse than staying awake. One should be able to find out what perhaps is affecting sleep rather trying hard to get sleep. I know many those are perfectly healthy even with 3-5 hours sleep. What i noticed is, they all wake up with a fresh feel. That fresh feel is enough to keep them going through the day. If even after 7-8 hours sleep one don't feel fresh that sleep has no meaning. The reason what i feel about people coming out fresh with minimum sleep is, they are either accustomed to this lifestyle and never carry mental stress or else, knows when to go for sleep. There are a few reasons why we don't get good sleep. Major among them are: 1. Less of physical activities 2. Too much of attachment with gadgets that excites the neuro receptors 3. Anxiety However, one best way to fall asleep without using any medication is practicing deep breathing while lying down at bed time. Slow deep inhalation for 4-6 second. Holding the breath for another 7-10 second Breathing out in another 12-17 second while allowing every part of the body to relax. Repeating 3 times is enough. There's no rule about lying down flat. One should practice it in a position he/she feels comfortable and the position the person normally prefer to sleep. Should be repeated thrice. If that doesn't help than after a few minutes the process can be repeated. A glass of water before the meditation always helps. I always found it helpful and suggested to many of my friends those are suffering from insomnia. Quite a number of them came back saying, they found result

[@vckard6793]

Good advice thank you

[@debajitkumardas8649]

@@vckard6793thanks for appreciating dear friend. The reason why it works is, your whole concentration during the period is on breathing and on relaxing mind and body. All stressful thoughts gets sidelined for the whole system to calm down

[@ethanpatch6840]

you know many who are perfectly healthy with 3-5 hours of sleep? that sounds highly unlikely seeing as the amount of people who can feel refreshed on that much sleep everyday is EXTREMELY rare. sure you might manage but chances are those people are very sleep deprived.

[@feliciatran5667]

@@ethanpatch6840 definitely agreed with your comment Ethan!!

[@AZ-fr3ht]

I’m trying to make myself feel better by watching this video, because as a final year med student there have been months where I average 4-5 hours of sleep. Right now I’m in a busy rotation and this week alone my average is 3h 45 mins lol. Strangely enough after some time I no longer need alarm to wake up at the same time, no matter how much sleep I had that night.

[@cunuc]

i never worried about not enough sleep. i am tired all the time so i never had problems falling asleep

[@JediMage]

Did KZbin just recommend me a video about why not sleeping at night is okay at 4 am (or pm? Whatever, 4 on 24hour clock)

[@itsmanasK]

In so many years, I've still not got a perfect answer to how much sleep I require!! Even on this same channel, there are numerous TED-Talks, everyone giving different opinions on sleep, and in many cases completely contradicting each other

[@Selim2591]

True

[@highcue]

Thank you, I feel a little more normal after watching this. Not sure if this can help but I use to be an insomniac. Turns out that I was not putting myself in the right state of mind because of end of day habits (stimulating activities) as well as drinking coffee later than 10 am. Low cognition activities after 10 pm + no coffee after 10 am was enough to fix it for me and it's been 15 years. I've never felt so good, and I can't sleep more than 6 hours. When I say I can't it's not a joke. I can stay in bed for 1 hour trying to fall back to sleep but unless I did not have 6 hours, I am not going to fall asleep again. And if I sleep 4 hours and take a nap during the day, it will be a 2-hour nap. If I go to bed at 11h I'll wake up at 5. If I go to bed at 2 am I'll wake up at 8. I really feel lucky, there is no doubt about it. Sometimes I wish I could sleep an extra 2 hours. Having 1 or 2 hours extra in a day is nice and all but the compounding effect of 18 hours days make it so that I just want to skip forward a bit sometimes. There is so much you can do in a day, but there is also a finite number of things you can think of doing in a day. But given the choice there is no doubt that I'd stick to 6 hours of sleep.

[@thatoneguywithhorns3774]

no matter when or how I sleep, I always feel tired when I wake up earlier than 9.

[@seekthuth2817]

This feels like the water scare all over again. If your body says you're fine, chances are you're probably fine.

[@virendrasahani6871]

Last three questions are really great to understand someone's sleeping behaviour. Thank you.

[@iDorkyDucky]

I sleep 12 am until 5 in the morning, and take a nap for 30mins - 1hr during 12:30 to 1:3, and it enough for me

[@김호-u4u]

Yeah i need bout 10 hours of sleep generally to feel refreshed

[@ryanlemay121]

As an engineering student, I haven't gotten 8 hours during a week day since winter break. I get excited to get 6

[@ajwalker4416]

Six - 7 hours and a 30 minute nap seems to work perfectly for me. Some days, I do get a little drowsy and need a nap if it's closer to 6, but if it's closer to 7, I find I don't need the nap.

[@onionlayersed]

When you're in med school, you forget everything you've been told about sleeping and fixate on grades

[@luvomputa8882]

and there is such a thing as too much sleep, if I sleep too much (more than 7-8 hours *for me*) then I feel lethargic.

[@Darius_Cyrus]

I moved my phone to the other side of my room and put it face down. Now I have to get up to turn it off and can't tell what time it is when I wake up in the middle of the night. It worked wonders.

[@misterargus]

After a medium-to super intense day: 7 hours are minimal need. Low intensity-day 6 hours might do.

[@Yuuki9875]

I’m 20 and still need a lot of sleep, if I don’t sleep 9 or 10 hours I’m exhausted But it depends the person I guess

[@Lilitha11]

It doesn't matter how much sleep I get, I always still feel like I need a nap at some point mid day.

[@jagatsingh1060]

7-8 hours will get me thru everything

[@strangereyes9594]

Sometimes I even sleep 12 hours, sometimes 6, depending how hard the work was. Although, 8 is the average. So, everyone that tells your "You need x hours of sleep" is talking BS. You need what you need.

[@adnnebs]

She looks so smart and understanding ! I wish she was my doctor

[@CuriosityIgnited]

This video is so informative and entertaining! I love how Dr. Jen Gunter debunks the myths and fears about sleep and gives practical advice on how to improve our sleep quality and quantity. She is such a great communicator and educator, and I can’t wait to listen to her podcast. Thank you, TED, for this amazing series! 👏👏👏

[@KeithSy-g3j]

I am watching TED Talks in KZbin every day.

[@domistry]

Sleep has a lot to do with what you eat, because anything more than 3-4 hours of sleep is an inertia; so eat veg, fresh, and less cooked food to make it easy for your body to digest and stay awake to do wonders throughout the day 🙂

[@XdASeviX]

Do you realize that cooking food makes it actually more digestible?

[@dudedude365]

Stop : Junk, High Carbs, too much Processed Food, Sugar

[@domistry]

@@XdASeviX not in all cases bro, try eating some fruits and see how fast your body can digest it as compared to anything else. The next best is cooked rice and veggies.

[@BlackFlashDemon]

As a kid I’ve always gotten around 4-6 cause lack of melatonin but I can’t take anymore because doctors said I could easily keep reducing it, 21 now and I’m trying to balance life with 2-4 daily.

[@shohruxsaidov5041]

6 hours of sleep is enough for me

[@lois081073]

On average I don't sleep more than 6 hours per day. As far as I can remember, it has always been like this. I feel well rested each day.

[@joyyyy777]

Great

[@jecksstar8321]

As a Teenager 9-9:30h are enough for me so I try to spend 10h a day in bed with lights out.

[@Selim2591]

Good for you. I need at least 7-9. If i go to gym that day it is 8-9.

[@carramboardlover938]

Exactly this is my case...I'm very confused between 5:30 to 6 hrs of absolutely fresh pure sleep...I have lot of work to do that's why i can not let me sleep more than 6 hrs( to 8 hrs.. 9hrsss for so called healthy health)...Btw i meditate 3/4 days per week for 30 minutes.

[@tutacat]

Yes true, fixating on numbers can be harmful.

[@dispater101]

People always tell me that i am harming myself cause i only sleep for no more than 6 hours a night..but is it really my fault that a 6 hour sleep is already enough for me to feel refreshed the next day? 😅

[@Medinmins2023]

RIP. I am gonna die soon just living off 4-5hrs sleep for years being medical students plus eating food that are not healthy at all. 😢

[@Limitlessluckyunique888]

how are you now me only 1 hr. of sleep every night

[@Marta1Buck]

For me, I notice that 6h20m is adequate. Less than 5, I feel that I'm not me. Oh yeah, I use smart band to track sleep, and I only care about duration. Deep sleep, rem sleep, light sleep, tracking those feels like an anxiety inducing activity. Edit: exercise helps me sleep faster.

[@AlisonBryen]

Exercise, getting enough daylight, and having a regular daily routine are key for me. I get about 6-6.5hours sleep per night, on average.

[@PrinceFame25]

I have three jobs so my sleep schedule will never be the same!!! Some days I’m tired, other days I’m full of energy!

[@finn3721]

Thanks for the great explanation!

[@vicksksr9797]

You can't force sleep. You need to be relaxed and stress free for at least 12 to 14 hours a day. Most of the mammals like cats, dogs can sleep for 14 to 16 hours a day. Bears tend to hibernate for months. Hibernation for humans can cause bone and muscle loss but otherwise there's no harm in oversleeping. Of course MNCs and corporates want you to sleep less so that you work more. Even if you oversleep and dose at work it is Ok. We were not designed to be corporate slaves.

[@FreshTopEnd]

8-9 hours is solid. If I get like 4 I feel drunk

[@ChaoRitz]

Man people have trouble sleeping and here i am having trouble with over sleeping

[@Enoo-Wynn]

I read somewhere that the quality of the sleep is what matters most. That study was in India and I can't remember the name of it, sorry. If we slept more, wouldn't it be better for the environment? Is this talk designed to make us work more?

[@Gandhi_Physique]

Uh.. there are other things you can do than work when you are awake lol

[@Enoo-Wynn]

@@Gandhi_Physique yes, I don't have space to list them all. You would agree we're environmentally friendly when asleep though, yes? It's just a comment.

[@avevee9708]

My body doesn’t let me sleep past 7 hours unless I’m exhausted. But if I wake up less than 7, I feel like I’m dying

[@flyffreak93]

I sleep at least 8 hours a day but still feel tired during the day. Any tips

[@csehbalazs5456]

I need like 14 hours after my migraine attacks and on my everyday around 9-10 hours at the age of 20, with severe fungi allergy in a moldy home, so my body needs a lot of recharge to be barely functional. I was cool with 6 hours before i got ill two years ago.

[@wailingalen]

I get about 4 to 5 hours a night and I seem to be getting by just fine. I have, from what my coworkers can tell me, that I am an enthusiastic, high energy person. I go to the gym for about 2 hours, 2 days a week. 38 year old male. And am in pretty good physical and mental health. Now granted if it’s been a string of 3-4 hour nights in a row, I will feel a little drowsy after a heavy lunch from time to time. But as long as I stay busy I can power thru it. I used to get anxiety and stress worrying about it! I Very often feel WORSE when I get more than 6-8 hours of sleep… which doesn’t really happen very often. Now I often do “catch up” on my rest by sleeping in on the weekends tho. I used to very sparingly take naps after work on non gym days but I rarely do unless I’m feeling extraordinarily exhausted. Plus i usu go to the gym straight after work, bc if I go home first it’s very difficult for me to be motivated, and I use the momentum I have from work, which I usu do at a pretty fast pace with a can do attitude mindset. I would say for most of my adult life and even during my teens I always got by with less sleep than the recommended figures. I also am pretty mentally and spiritually grounded after going through some bad years with legal, relationship, and substance abuse problems, so for the most part I sleep pretty sound 😂

[@taraking6472]

My husband does well with biphasic sleep, but if I wake up in the middle of the night, it’s almost impossible for me to go back to sleep and then I’m off for days afterwards.

[@ShawnDC]

When I was a kid, I hated sleep. When I got older, I sleep to escape some stuff 😂

[@eyatrabelsi9921]

Same

[@ninjapirate123]

Yeah same

[@Raiden_Degen]

The best choice I’ve made this year was subscribing to this channel.

[@rehvem]

i am ok with 5:30/6 hrs sleep, i really with fresh and active i dont feel sleepy in the day, but i am just 24 and i sometimes think if i sleep less than whats recommended i may get trouble in my 40s or 50s, so i started to force my self and sleep 7:30/8 hrs, i feel lazy and bored all day my brain is not functioning as it was functioning back then, but i just dont know that if its related to my sleep or something else. if i can be healthy all my life with 5 hrs of sleep (as i feel energized) i would never sleep of 5 minutes more than that.

[@carramboardlover938]

Exactly this is my case...I'm very confused between 5:30 to 6 hrs of absolutely fresh pure sleep...I have lot of work to do that's why i can not let me sleep more than 6 hrs( to 8 hrs.. 9hrsss for so called healthy health)...Btw i meditate 3/4 days per week for 30 minutes.

[@chinmayaprakash]

This video has really helped me in sleeping! The trick that did it for me was to set playback speed at 0.5x and play the video on loop.