Sleep is an important part of life. Thanks to him, the human brain at rest processes the information accumulated during the day and restores strength.
The common phrase: "so you can sleep all your life," many misleading. And we begin to think: how much does a person need to sleep?
The main criterion for determining the duration of sleep
And so far no one has been able to give an exact answer to this question: neither psychologists, nor doctors, nor researchers. The whole secret is that each person needs a certain amount of hours to sleep. Only self-observation will allow us to calculate the duration of sleep, sufficient to restore strength, normalize mental activity, mental abilities.
Sleep duration and age
And yet over the centuries, science has made it possible to determine how much a person needs to sleep. The approximate duration of sleep is named even for each age period. Newborns sleep about 80% of the time of day. Up to 7 years, children sleep 10-11 hours, and an hour of them in the afternoon (it is not for nothing that sleep time is provided in kindergartens in the day mode ). From 8 years old to adolescence - 8-10 hours. Entering adolescence, 6 hours is enough for a person.
Average, maximum and minimum duration of sleep
But the average duration of sleep is still equated to 8 hours. Where does this figure come from? An interesting fact was revealed by research by American scientists. Those people who sleep more than 8 hours live less than those who sleep 7 hours every night. If a person does not sleep for a long time (from 2 weeks to months), i.e. sleeps less than 7 hours of recovery, chronic fatigue, symptoms of sleep deprivation, and weakening of all body functions may appear.
However, there are individuals who are enough for 6 hours: this time is enough for them to regain strength, to feel sleepy and awake every day. For many, on the contrary, 8 hours is not enough. If they sleep less, they feel overwhelmed and cannot adequately respond to circumstances.
How much does a person need to sleep if the average statistics are not suitable for him? Of course, you should not focus on average data, each person is unique and many "fall out" of statistics, including with regard to the duration of sleep. Still, scientists have identified a minimum limit of 5 hours of sleep every night (identified based on data on sleep cycles and phases).
The consequences of chronic "lack of sleep" or what will happen if you sleep a little?
Lack of sleep affects the ability to think, adequately respond to circumstances, other people, the ability to navigate the situation. Not to mention the physiological manifestations of sleep deprivation: weakness, drowsiness, yawning, voice changes, movements become inhibited, the gait is not even. Years of sleep deprivation lead to rapid aging of the body - say researchers of the physiology of sleep.
What time should I go to bed?
Most modern people work from 8 o’clock in the morning. An hour of preparation and some time on the road. I have to get up at 6.30. How much you need to lie down to get up at this time depends on the individual duration of sleep. A person is able to adapt to a different rhythm of life. With the indicated daily routine, by 7 am the human body is ready to get out of sleep. This explains why many continue to wake up early even on weekends, holidays and during vacations.
And another important detail
The phases of sleep are of great importance . Scientists who have been studying the physiology of sleep for decades have come to the conclusion that an even number of hours does not produce the desired effect. If, for example, a person slept for 8 hours and was woken up by an alarm clock (or someone), he will feel overwhelmed, and not because he did not sleep enough, but because he did not wake up in time. Scientists called different sleep durations depending on phases and cycles, suitable for all people with unique sleep needs: 4.5 hours, 6 hours, 7.5 hours, 9 hours - i.e. with a difference of 1.5 hours. Again, these are average indicators, for some phases of sleep last longer - up to 2 hours.
So, the features of human sleep as a unique psychological and physiological state of the body were considered by scientists from various angles and the facts established by them will help everyone to determine how much a person needs to sleep, to make an individual daily regimen.