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Is sleeping for many hours beneficial? Long sleep - its harm and consequences

How does long sleep affect our health? While a clear answer to this question has not been found, scientists from all over the world conduct regular experiments, invite volunteers and study this phenomenon in detail. Almost every modern working person or mother on maternity leave dreams of getting a good night's sleep. Some people try to make up for the chronic lack of sleep accumulated during the work week on the weekend, thereby setting a personal record. However, when sleep comes suddenly, takes up a significant half of the day and does not bring a feeling of vigor and restoration of strength, it is worth thinking about why this is happening.

Much has been said about the impact sleep has on the human body and quality of life in general. In addition to replenishing the energy spent during the day, a good night's rest helps regulate hormone levels, restore internal organs, and help fight infections. However, from year to year somnologists make new discoveries regarding everything related to sleep. Thus, the question of why a person sleeps a lot and does not get enough sleep, although he falls asleep on time, has been studied in detail. But, despite the large number of instrumental studies conducted in this direction, the results obtained are surprising in their inconsistency.

According to some sources, a long night's rest for an adult (more than 9 hours) helps to increase life expectancy. According to others, long sleep at night negatively affects health, reducing mental abilities and contributing to the development of a number of diseases.

Empirical studies involving volunteers were conducted at different times by scientists from leading universities in the USA and Europe. And they all agree that sleep that lasts more than 8-9 hours inevitably leads to health problems.

These include diseases such as:

  • diabetes mellitus;
  • stroke;
  • coronary heart disease;
  • metabolic disorders;
  • overweight;
  • depression.

In addition, according to the data obtained, people who like to sleep longer, regardless of their age category and gender, experience a significant decline in cognitive abilities, which increases the risk of developing dementia (dementia) and Alzheimer's disease with age.

In general, the normal duration of night's rest decreases as one gets older. Thus, the longest sleep is observed in newborns and children of preschool and primary school age. The older a person gets, the less time he needs to sleep. Under the age of 25, sleep can be 7-9 hours, and in old age people sleep about 6-7 hours.

There are several cases in the history of mankind when the record for the longest sleep was recorded. The “sleeping beauties” at different times were the Swedish schoolgirl Caroline Olson (14 years old) in 1876 and a resident of Ukraine Nadezhda Lebedina (34 years old) in 1954, whose record was included in the Guinness Book of Records. In the first case, after a severe head injury, the girl slept for 42 years and 42 days. In the second case, the woman simply went to bed, albeit after a family quarrel with her husband, and woke up only 20 years later. Scientists have classified these phenomena as types of lethargic sleep.


Increasing the duration of sleep at night is called hypersomnia. Its characteristic signs are prolonged sleep and a constant feeling of fatigue, which only increases over time. “I sleep for a long time, but I don’t feel alert and want to sleep all the time,” these are the complaints most often made by those who suffer from the negative consequences of hypersomnia.

According to the type of occurrence, hypersomnia can be:

  • psychophysiological;
  • pathological.

Psychophysiological hypersomnia can periodically occur in any person as a result of overwork, prolonged lack of sleep, or in stressful situations.

Pathological hypersomnia occurs as a result of disruption or damage to one or more parts of the central nervous system that control the sleep-wake cycle. This also includes drug-induced and post-traumatic hypersomnia.

Depending on the form, hypersomnia has symptoms such as a constant feeling of fatigue and drowsiness during the day. Or a person may simply suddenly fall asleep, no matter where he is.

It is noted that this sleep disorder occurs mainly at a young age. At the same time, it significantly reduces the quality of life, posing a serious threat to the person himself and his environment.

Emotionally significant events and a day full of physical activity can be the answer to the question of why an adult sleeps for a very long time. But along with these factors, prolonged sleep can be a consequence of various types of injuries or drug use.

Hypersomnia has completely different causes.

Among them are:

In rare cases, hypersomnia is not a consequence of the above factors. This type of neurological disorder is called idiopathic hypersomnia and is characterized by increased daytime sleepiness.

Also, prolonged periods of sleep may indicate the presence of serious psychological problems. The fact is that in this way, spending a long time in dreams, a person moves away from reality, from current problems and unpleasant, stressful situations.

One of the important points to improve the condition of this form of pathologically long sleep will be compliance with preventive measures.

So, you can help normalize night sleep with the help of:

Resorting to self-treatment or taking medications without a doctor’s prescription in this case is not justified and can be dangerous. Like any other disorder, hypersomnia must be eliminated comprehensively and only after diagnosis by a qualified specialist.

Unfortunately, at the moment, idiopathic hypersomnias cannot be treated. The prescribed therapy is aimed only at eliminating associated symptoms. At the same time, an increase in sleep duration that occurs against the background of other somatic diseases may disappear after the root cause is eliminated.


Pathological forms of prolonged night sleep bring significant discomfort to everyday life. In addition to personal dissatisfaction, increasing aggressiveness, and anxiety, relationships in the family and with colleagues can be significantly disrupted. This is why timely seeking qualified psychological help is so important.

In conclusion, we note that prolonged sleep can be both harmful and beneficial. It all depends on the conditions under which it occurs and the effect it brings. If the long rest is due to intense work and an urgent “burning” project or report, then there is nothing to worry about. The body will replenish the expended energy and return to its usual rhythm.

However, if after a long night's sleep the state of fatigue only intensifies, and this continues for quite a long time, you should consult a specialist as soon as possible.

There is no need to spend long hours watching dreams, hoping to set your own record for the longest sleep. After all, it is better to spend the available free time for the benefit of yourself and your loved ones.

It's no secret that adequate sleep is the basis of our health. It restores strength, strengthens the immune system, reduces stress levels and even helps fight obesity, diabetes and early mortality!

But this does not mean that the more we sleep, the healthier we become. Moreover, according to scientists, staying in the arms of Morpheus for too long is harmful to the body. According to them, people who regularly spend more than 9-10 hours in bed risk getting a bunch of chronic diseases, facing cardiovascular pathologies and impaired brain function. This article will be of interest to all those who believe that 8 hours a day is extremely little for sleep, and who cannot wake up even to the sound of an alarm clock.

Why do people sleep longer than usual?

After conducting a series of studies, scientists from the American National Sleep Foundation concluded that excessive sleep is a sign of various problems with the body. So, if a person sleeps more than 9 hours every day, it is likely that he has:

  • chronic fatigue due to excessive physical activity;
  • problems with the thyroid gland;
  • cardiovascular diseases;
  • protracted infectious process;
  • hunger or gluttony;
  • diseases of a neurological nature;
  • chronic stress or depression;
  • sleep apnea.

Additionally, sleeping too much can be a side effect of taking certain medications. Scientists have also noticed a relationship between long sleep and bad habits (smoking and alcohol abuse). That is, those who sleep for a long time may encounter the listed diseases or worsen existing bad habits.

Idiopathic hypersomnia

Finally, it is worth saying that prolonged sleep can be a symptom of an unpleasant disease called idiopathic hypersomnia. Essentially, this is a disorder of the nervous system that leads a person to increased sleepiness.

A person suffering from this disease experiences a constant desire to sleep, much longer than the prescribed 8 hours. He suffers from constant overwork, weakness and apathy, which interferes with normal life activities. It is not uncommon for him to experience dizziness and migraines, low blood pressure and vision problems. Moreover, against the background of the disease, such a person’s mental abilities deteriorate, problems with memory and concentration begin. And the most unpleasant thing is that even after a long sleep the patient does not feel cheerful and rested.

It is not surprising that such a painful condition negatively affects professional activities, studies and personal life. Such people are never in a cheerful state, rarely smile, their social contacts are disrupted, and in some cases they are forced to leave their place of work altogether. But hypersomnia can easily cause fatal consequences, because a person suffering from it risks falling asleep while driving or while performing an important task.

But even if you do not suffer from idiopathic hypersomnia, but simply like to sleep for a long time and at the same time feel good after waking up, you should worry about your sleep habits. Here are a few of the unpleasant consequences that can come from sleeping too much.

Negative effects of prolonged sleep

1. Heart problems

When you sleep for a long time, your heart begins to suffer. The fact is that during sleep, blood vessels dilate and blood flow slows down, which means that the likelihood of blood thickening and the formation of clots, which can become blood clots, increases. Thus, prolonged sleep is one of the factors that can lead a person to a stroke or heart attack. Moreover, scientists at the University of Massachusetts conducted a study that confirmed that prolonged sleep leads to early mortality. Moreover, the more a person sleeps, the sooner he risks dying. In this regard, the ideal sleep time is considered to be 7 hours a day.

2. Obesity

Prolonged sleep also affects the state of appearance, in particular, the gain of fat mass. If you sleep for long periods of time, including during the day, you have less time for activity during the day. And less activity is accompanied by less burning of calories, which, remaining in the body, lead to weight gain. Typically, excess body weight develops both in people who sleep 4 hours a day, and in people who are drawn to sleep 10 hours a day. That is why it is worth monitoring the duration of night rest and limiting it to 7-8 hours.

3. Diabetes mellitus

The duration of sleep affects the production of hormones. First of all, testosterone production in the body decreases at night, which becomes a prerequisite for the development of diabetes. Moreover, under the influence of prolonged sleep, the body's tolerance to glucose is impaired, and this is a known factor in the development of type II diabetes. Finally, people who sleep a lot are less active when they are awake, and physical activity is essential to reduce the risk of developing diabetes. However, diabetes is caused not only by prolonged sleep, but also by a sedentary lifestyle, as well as obesity.

4. Depressive state

Normal sleep leads to the fact that the awakened person feels healthy, rested, alert and cheerful. However, if you sleep more than 9 hours, you wake up sleep-deprived and gloomy. Doctors call this condition “sleep intoxication.” But that's not all. Prolonged sleep leads to a decrease in physical activity throughout the day, and lack of activity, in turn, leads to a decrease in the production of dopamine and serotonin, they are also called “hormones of joy and happiness.” It is not surprising that when the production of these hormones important for mood decreases, a person becomes apathetic, depressed, prone to stress and depression.

5. Damage to the brain

Too much sleep invariably affects brain activity and provokes lethargy. A person in this state does not think well, he has memory problems, and he cannot concentrate on any one thing for a long time. If such a problem persists for a long time, it can lead to structural changes in the brain and cause impairment of basic cognitive functions. Prolonged sleep is especially harmful for the elderly. Scientists from the University of Rotterdam conducted a study that confirmed that people over 55 years of age who tend to sleep 10 hours a day are 3 times more likely to experience memory loss, senile dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

6. Frequent headaches

It only seems at first glance that the more a person rests, the less often he has a headache. Sleeping too much can lead to frequent headaches and even migraines. Scientists believe this is due to a disruption in the functioning of neurotransmitters in the brain and, above all, to the low production of serotonin and dopamine. By the way, the appearance of headaches in a person who wakes up by noon may be associated with a lack of blood sugar and dehydration.

7. Back pain

Often a person who has slept for more than 10 hours declares that his back already hurts from sleep. This is a well-known phenomenon that can be explained by a decrease in physical activity, which has a bad effect on the condition of the bones and muscular system. It is especially difficult for people suffering from osteochondrosis and other back diseases to endure prolonged sleep. In addition, prolonged lack of movement associated with sleep increases the likelihood of inflammatory processes in the body, which can also result in back pain.

Should I get rid of long sleep?

A person cannot always determine on his own whether he needs to reduce his sleep duration. And the norm of 7-8 hours is not always correct, because each person’s body is individual. To understand this issue, you need to see a doctor who will prescribe a comprehensive examination. It should include:

1. Blood test. Substances or medications that cause drowsiness may be found in the blood. By eliminating their entry into the body, the existing problem can be eliminated.

2. Polysomnography. This is a detailed study carried out throughout the day, during which special sensors record brain, heart and muscle activity, as well as respiratory function. Such a study allows you to determine whether there is a sleep disorder, as well as identify factors that increase this disorder.

How to deal with long sleep

Faced with such a problem, doctors help a person normalize sleep, acting in two directions, namely, prescribing medications that are prescribed for hypersomnia, and also recommending making the right changes in their life. Let's list the most important changes.

1. Try to adhere to a rest and sleep schedule, i.e. go to bed no later than 22:00, and wake up no later than 6:00. If you feel drowsy and very tired during the day, you should not drive a car or operate complex machinery.

2. Create the perfect sleep environment. Nothing should distract you from sleep, so try to always sleep in the bedroom, after ventilating it for 10 minutes and regularly wet cleaning it. Remove TV and electronic gadgets from your bedroom that may interfere with your sleep.

3. Avoid drinking coffee and alcohol before bed. On the contrary, to set yourself up for a good rest, take a relaxing bath and drink a cup of herbal tea.

4. Consult your doctor before taking medications. If the medication affects sleep, it must be replaced with a safer one.

5. Avoid pressing the alarm button repeatedly. Train yourself to rise with its first trills.

6. Start your morning with a cup of tea and morning exercises to feel cheerful and light throughout the day.

Treatment prognosis

Practice shows that treatment of prolonged sleep under the supervision of a specialist gives good results and in 80% of cases relieves a person from this unpleasant condition. It is quite difficult to make progress without the help of doctors. That is why, if independent changes in your rest and sleep patterns do not lead to noticeable improvements, send to a doctor and undergo treatment under his supervision.
Take care of yourself!

A person rests when he sleeps. A proper rest is impossible without a night's sleep, but sometimes in order to feel better and restore performance, it is necessary to take a nap during daylight hours. Although somnologists admit: daytime sleep is an entirely individual matter.

When existence determines sleep

The need for daytime sleep depends on many factors:

  • biorhythms;
  • physiological conditions;
  • professional responsibilities;
  • degree of satisfaction of the need for night sleep, etc.

People are divided into “night owls” and “larks”. People who are early risers get up early, and sleeping during the day is normal for them. Most owls do not like to sleep during the day: they really wake up closer to noon.

The physiological characteristics of a person are such that weakened and sick people sleep more; it is useful for them to sleep during the day. Pregnant women love to take a nap in the middle of the day. Daytime sleep is promoted by physical fatigue and mental fatigue. This also applies to certain types of professions that require a lot of stress during the day.

Not everyone and not always can sleep as much as they need at night. A common thing is to get up very early to come to work, which is far from home. In this case, the hours lost at night must be compensated during the day.

Age is also an important factor: the older a person is, the less his total need for rest. The habit of sleeping during the day or doing without it is formed in childhood.

Take care of your sleep from a young age

People are taught that an afternoon nap is necessary even in early childhood. So, in kindergarten, children must be put to bed at noon, and an hour and a half is allotted for rest. Quiet time is an integral attribute of children's holiday camps and other school and preschool institutions. Even then it was clear that not everyone found it easy to fall asleep during the day. Some fall asleep quickly and easily, and wake up just as easily, while others fidget for a long time, look at the ceiling, and when they finally fall asleep, it’s time to get up for lunch.

There are several reasons for this: active, lively children with a sanguine temperament have time to play and run around before quiet time, and therefore sleep without their hind legs. Phlegmatic children, who perceive the world philosophically, lie down calmly and calmly fall asleep. Worse daytime sleep comes to melancholic and choleric people. By the way, this applies not only to children - adults who have retained their temperament type carry their attitude towards Morpheus’s hugs through the years.

Another reason may be the lack of a daily routine as such for the child at home. It is not without reason that pediatricians recommend that mothers planning to take their child to kindergarten for the first time try in advance to put the baby on the rails of an orderly daily routine: meals by the hour, early rise, early bedtime and a mandatory afternoon nap.

The older the child gets, the more time he devotes to being awake. But if napping has become a habit, it should stay. You just need to adjust the time allotted for this.

Don't think down on the minutes

Having grown up, people often remember with nostalgia the sweet kindergarten past, when they feel sleepy at work during the lunch break. To be fair, in some places in Russia they have already begun to adopt the useful habit of Western employers of providing employees with the opportunity to take a nap in the middle of the day.

Such “sleep breaks” have long been commonplace in Europe, especially in southern countries. The traditional siesta gives a person the opportunity to survive the midday heat with minimal loss of vitality, especially since the worker at this time feels a loss of strength, and, consequently, performance decreases.

Sleeping during the day has also come into play in Japan and Southeast Asia, where people work extremely hard and the rhythm of the working day is very intense. Even an office sleep industry has emerged: in order to get a good night's sleep at work, they produce special pillows, earplugs and other accessories.

Sleepy breaks can be counted not only in minutes, but even in seconds. The main thing is to use them skillfully and know what benefits they can bring. Depending on how much time to sleep, they differ:

  • microsleep;
  • Minison;
  • good sleep;
  • lazy sleep.

The duration of microsleep is up to five minutes. It is effective if irresistible drowsiness sets in. Minison lasts longer, up to 20 minutes. This time is enough for the ability to concentrate attention to increase after waking up and the productivity of physical labor to increase.

The most beneficial daytime nap is up to forty minutes, because... helps relieve muscle fatigue during physical labor and get rid of unnecessary information for office intellectuals. In common parlance, this process is called “throwing everything bad out of your head.” The result is increased endurance, good long-term memory, accelerated reaction.

If you sleep during the day, like in kindergarten, from forty minutes to an hour and a half, you will wake up rested and refreshed. The secret to improving your well-being lies in the fact that during lazy sleep, bone and muscle tissue are regenerated. True, it takes a little longer to switch to the workday mode after such a day's rest.

There is also the so-called nanosleep, which lasts less than a minute. It can hardly be called a planned event; the term “passing out” is more suitable for such a dream. It occurs spontaneously when a person can no longer fight fatigue and lack of sleep. If you experience such a nanosleep, it means it’s time to change something in your work schedule and daily routine.

A normal, non-overtired adult is unlikely to be able to sleep more than an hour and a half during the day. And how useful it is for an adult to sleep during the day - everyone decides for himself.

For whom and when is it good to sleep during the day?

Physiologists and somnologists no longer break spears in discussions about what daytime sleep is, benefits or harm, because there are many nuances in each specific case. So, for people aged 25 to 55 years, a midday nap reduces the likelihood that they will have cardiovascular diseases. And the same sleep in older people increases the risk of stroke.

The benefit of daytime sleep is that in a short period the body can restore its strength:

  • efficiency increases;
  • consciousness clears up;
  • mood improves;
  • tone is restored.

Daytime sleep is useful in the off-season, in autumn and spring, when the human body is weakened due to hypovitaminosis and chronic lack of sunlight: if at this time of year you do not sleep for the required amount of time during the day, the body’s immune strength weakens.

Women need not only to provide themselves with at least 20 minutes of daytime sleep, but also to “furnish” it with maximum comfort. Those representatives of the fairer sex who honor siesta always have a much better complexion than those who only have lunch at lunchtime. Those who stock up on convenient office sleep aids are freed from unnecessary wrinkles, bruises, and circles under the eyes. Their skin radiates freshness.

By the way, you need to listen to your body. If you think that sleeping during the day is useful, but sleep doesn’t come to you, then you don’t really need to fall asleep. Better read a book. But if the body needs a midday rest and it hints at it with all its might, it is better not to resist, but to do everything to ensure that the short-term sleep is comfortable:

  • take a position in which the muscles are relaxed;
  • Protect yourself as much as possible from noise and bright light.

Interestingly, for productive rest and guaranteed awakening in 20-25 minutes, it is enough to drink a cup of warm, strong tea or coffee before closing your eyelids. At first, a warm drink will make you drowsy and help you fall asleep quickly. And after 20 minutes the tonic effect will begin.

For whom is siesta harmful?

In some circumstances, it may be harmful to sleep during the day. Most often this applies to cases where a person suffers from a disruption of the normal sleep schedule. If you have insomnia, trying to compensate for nighttime sleep disturbances at the expense of daytime sleep is a bad decision. It’s the same as eating a cake before lunch if you have an appetite disorder. It’s better to hold out for the day and go to bed early in the evening. If you try, you can learn to fall asleep safely in the evening and sleep until the morning.

It is undesirable to sleep during the day immediately after a meal, especially if the food is heavy: although a person is tempted to lie down, such sleep will be difficult. In addition, this is harmful because the calories consumed will immediately be deposited where you least want to see - the buttock area, stomach, sides. It’s better to sit for an hour after lunch, and if you can’t bear it after that, then go to sleep.

Daytime sleep can be harmful for diabetics: during such sleep, blood sugar levels increase, since changes in biorhythms lead to metabolic disorders.

If you have hypertension, it is also better not to sleep during the day. The danger in this case is that blood pressure can rise sharply, and pressure surges are also observed.

You can't sleep at sunset. Dozing after 16 hours grossly disrupts any biorhythms and causes a headache after waking up. A person will not feel rested, but, on the contrary, tired, irritated, lethargic. There is a high probability that after such a sunset sleep, night sleep will be disturbed. This has a bad effect on performance.

The head will hurt after waking up and in the case when a person suffers from increased intracranial and intraocular pressure.

A person who wants to get rid of excess weight simply must learn to sleep correctly during the daytime.

The most “difficult” type of fat deposits is subcutaneous. The accumulation of this fat occurs when the level of a hormone called cortisol increases. The value of napping during the day is that it reduces cortisol levels, but the effect can be neutralized if you lie down on the couch immediately after a heavy meal. The best daytime rest for those who want to lose weight is 20 minutes of maximum relaxation, as much as the situation allows, followed by waking up and having a light snack of grain bread with tea and a spoon of honey.

At home, you can sleep a little longer, up to 40 minutes, and the menu does not have to be so ascetic: you can afford rice with vegetables, steamed fish with a slice of rye bread and fresh herbs. If you don’t feel like eating immediately after waking up, then put off lunch until you are hungry. But it's best to eat at the same time.

What else to pay attention to

If you have difficulty sleeping at night and daytime rest does not bring relief, you should consult a doctor. This may be a symptom of fatigue or an early sign of a mental or neurological illness. This condition is typical for stress.

In case of chronic disturbance of night sleep, you need to try to return yourself to a normal physiological course, refraining from daytime naps. Attempts to compensate for lack of sleep during the daytime will lead to the final chronicity of insomnia.

If you really want to sleep during the day, but you are not sure of waking up at the right time, do not be afraid to set an alarm clock at your workplace.

Daytime sleep is the most accessible form of complete rest for adults in the middle of the working day. If you sleep during your lunch break, your body will have the opportunity to regain its strength. The same applies to children, they need afternoon rest.

First of all, it should be noted that there must be balance in everything, that is, wakefulness must be balanced by enough sleep and vice versa, so that a person can feel rested. When this balance is disturbed, various problems immediately appear, such as insomnia, high irritability or laziness, as well as problems directly related to health. Based on these facts, it can be argued that both lack of sleep and very long sleep are equally harmful to the human body.

Benefits of long sleep

Long sleep can be beneficial in cases that depend on the physical and moral state of a person. For example, with overwork, daily heavy physical activity and lack of opportunity to get a good night's sleep. In this case, a lack of sleep accumulates in the body, all human resources are depleted at a certain point and in order to fully recover, a person will need more time to rest.

In cases where a person is too exhausted, sleep can last a day. A sick person will need the same amount of time to regain his strength.

The harm of long sleep

The harm of long sleep is based on overwork, into which a person plunges when there is an excess of the sleep hormone. With excessively long sleep, the body begins to get tired, and as a result, it does not regain strength, but loses it. Long sleep also destroys the internal course of the biological clock, and therefore, to a certain extent, restructures the functioning of the body. As a result, the level of laziness and reluctance to do something increases. The result can be severe stress and a high risk of depression.

Often, long sleep serves as a conscious escape from problems, that is, “I’m sleeping, which means I don’t see anything, I don’t solve anything.” This is the basis for many, the emergence of new and strengthening of old complexes. As for physical health, prolonged sleep can lead to an increase in migraine, stagnation of blood in the vessels, high blood pressure, and swelling of varying degrees.

Conclusion

What, exactly, is long sleep, how long does it last? Doctors say that the normal duration of sleep and wakefulness is different for a particular person. But there is an approximate distinction by which you can find out whether a person is sleeping within normal limits. So, sleep is considered long if its duration exceeds 10-14 hours or more. Therefore, for a person who only needs 7-8 hours of sleep, 10-11 hours is already too much. The distinctions are arbitrary, but they help to guide you in calculating the time spent on sleep.

Contents of the article

There is an opinion that good sound sleep is good for health. But there is also the other side of the coin: staying in the arms of Morpheus for too long is not just harmful, but very harmful. Impaired mental activity, a bouquet of chronic diseases, cardiovascular pathologies - all this is at risk for people who love to soak in bed for more than 9-10 hours a day. Thus, long sleep is extremely harmful to the mind and body. What should those who simply cannot wake up on time do, even after setting several alarms at night, and what does this condition indicate? The answer to this question will be discussed in this material.

What research has been carried out in this direction?

According to research data conducted by Spanish scientists on 3,300 people, respondents who liked to sleep very long in their youth and even take a nap at lunchtime, in old age are 2 times more likely to suffer from dementia in the senile period. The exact reason for this phenomenon is not completely clear. In addition, not so long ago a mutual connection was discovered between prolonged sleep and the formation of heart and vascular diseases, diabetes, and hypertension. Smoking and alcohol abuse have similar effects. Therefore, those who like to set a record on their sleep run the risk of contracting these serious ailments.

Idiopathic hypersomnia

This phenomenon is otherwise called idiopathic hypersomnia. It is a disorder accompanied by the formation of increased sleepiness. People who suffer from this disease experience fatigue, weakness, and apathy, which interfere with normal life activities. It persists even though sleep lasts a very long time. Such patients may sleep significantly more than the required eight hours. Sometimes they set a record and sleep from 12 to 14 hours. Even after this time, they have difficulty waking up.

If you wake up a patient suffering from such a disorder, he will still not be rested. His retardation will be noticeable in appearance. This phenomenon is otherwise called “sleep intoxication.” It turns out that no matter how much an individual sleeps, he still experiences drowsiness. Often, because of this problem, typos affect your career, studies, and social life. After all, prolonged sleep significantly impairs performance: the patient can look at one point for several hours and ignore reality. You can notice from the outside that a person has forgotten the rules for doing everyday things. Those who sleep a lot may suffer from migraines in 30% of cases. About 15% of all patients show signs of impending depression.

You might suddenly fall asleep right at work.

Despite how long the sick person has slept, his condition does not improve. In this case, there is a possibility of paralysis and hallucinations. But patients suffering from symptoms of hypersomnia do not experience attacks of weakness, as in other similar diseases. The situation with this disease is aggravated by the fact that early diagnosis is accompanied by certain difficulties, and at a later stage it becomes increasingly difficult to select adequate treatment. It is also influenced by the fact that the level of people’s awareness of this pathology remains minimal, which leads to the process of stigmatization of patients.

Who is susceptible to this disease

Over time, signs of this condition begin to appear in people over 30 years of age. They are pronounced and interfere with the normal process of life, without changing over time. Although in isolated cases, some symptoms disappear on their own. Prolonged sleep is less common than narcolepsy and occurs only in rare cases in children. Regarding the prevalence depending on gender, the disease occurs equally in men and women. In practice, a family origin of the disease has been observed, but specific genes responsible for this pathology have not been identified.

Long sleep - disease or normal

If a person notices such phenomena in himself and discovers that he sleeps too long, this is definitely a pathological process, and it is not the norm. Currently, there are several reasons for long sleep, why a person constantly wants to sleep.

One of the reasons is intense physical activity.

  • pathologies of a chronic nature;
  • endocrine dysfunction;
  • protracted infectious processes;
  • stress and depression;
  • emotional shocks;
  • excessive physical activity;
  • hunger or, conversely, gluttony;
  • high mental stress;
  • weakness of the body's protective option;
  • brain damage and mental problems;
  • diseases of a neurological nature;
  • lifestyle changes;
  • group of somatic diseases.

So, we looked at why this happens and what are the factors influencing this condition.

Symptoms of hypersomnia

This disease is characterized by many symptoms. It is their presence that allows us to judge that this disease exists. Among the main symptoms of this pathology are the following:

  • state of drowsiness;
  • pronounced snoring;
  • sudden falling asleep;
  • broken sleep time record;
  • stopping breathing during sleep;
  • inability to get enough sleep;
  • migraine and dizziness;
  • feeling of weakness;
  • loss of vision;
  • muscle paralysis;
  • convulsions;
  • changes in pressure in the arteries;
  • decreased heart rate.

Symptoms appear depending on the cause of hypersomnia. They can appear at any time. For example, there is a possibility of falling asleep while driving or at work, as well as while performing other important tasks.


Suddenly fell asleep

It is worth noting that people who suffer from this condition are never in a cheerful state. As a result, they often have to lose social contacts and refuse to perform work responsibilities. In this case, there may be dreams that the patient most often does not remember after waking up.

Should I get rid of long sleep?

If sleep is too long a process and a favorite activity for you, you should consult a doctor. He will prescribe a set of examinations, including the following:

  1. Donating blood to determine traces of drugs and drugs; this factor will allow you to establish or exclude certain causes of this condition.
  2. A detailed study lasting overnight and the next day. It includes conducting an instrumental study at night - polysomnography, which involves recording electrical brain, cardiac, muscle activity and respiratory function. Movements performed by the limbs are also recorded. Thanks to this procedure, it is possible to determine the presence or absence of other sleep disorders that cause or worsen the problems.
  3. A continuation of the previous examination is carried out the next day and involves studying episodes of daytime sleep. It's called Multiple sleep latency test (MSLT). This study involves a series of sleep attempts during the daytime. A similar study is carried out in the diagnostic practice of narcolepsy.

You need to tell your doctor your sleep record (maximum time spent sleeping), and also follow the basic rules indicated by the specialist.


The sleep record is 40 years. No need to strive there 😉

Features of treatment for sleep disorders

Why this disease occurs is still unknown. However, maintenance therapy in this case will not hurt. Traditionally, it is aimed at eliminating the main symptom of the condition – excessive drowsiness. To carry out the treatment process, the same medications are used as for narcolepsy. But the difficulty lies in the less pronounced effect of treatment compared to narcolepsy. If you experience increased weakness all the time, you need to follow certain tips that will help improve your condition:

  1. Supporting a regular sleep schedule in adults. It is necessary to plan the use of medications at times when it is especially important to remain alert and active. If such a condition occurs as before going to bed, you should not drive vehicles or difficult-to-control mechanisms.
  2. You should not take medications that affect the quality of sleep and overall level of sleepiness. It is strictly not recommended to abuse alcohol, which has a negative effect on the general condition.
  3. It is worth taking longer to treat sleep disorders, if you have them, and to do it effectively. If there are mental disorders, it is also important to carry out their treatment without delays and difficulties.
  4. If prolonged sleep occurs, the entire treatment process should be carried out under the supervision of a treating specialist, who is always ready to advise and provide answers to all common questions.

Disease prognosis

It is a lifelong disorder that can be accompanied by remissions in rare situations. The first signs of the presence of the disease may appear in adolescence. Sometimes a signal that something is wrong in the body appears during puberty. The consequences of this condition seriously affect professional and social life. It is instructive that this condition, compared to narcolepsy, incapacitates a person much more often. That is, even if he slept for several hours and set a record, it is more difficult for him to recover and return to normal activities.


There is a chance to return to an active life!

In general, if you follow the rules given in the article, the prognosis is good. If you take supportive medications (and their list is strictly prescribed by the treating specialist) and use other methods of therapy, you can begin to be awake and lead more active life activities.

Thus, if you set record after record in terms of sleep duration, there is no reason to be proud. Usually people sleep 8 hours a day, and this time is considered the norm, that is, it is enough for proper sleep, gaining new strength and comfortable rest. If an individual falls asleep for 10 or more hours, up to 14, this is abnormal and requires medical intervention. We wish you good health and well-being at any age!