Most of us have been ingrained with the idea that there’s a standard of sleep that we all have to live up to (or sleep up to), somewhere between seven and eight hours per night usually being the recommendation. Sleep, after all, can affect a variety of important cognitive functions, as well as your mood. However, I’ve recently noticed a bit of a discrepancy in the information and research on the proper amount of sleep one should be having. So how much sleep do you really need?
Evidence suggests that reducing one’s hours of sleep on a long-term basis may be bad news for a variety of health factors, including increased risks for various diseases, decline in cognitive functioning, and changes in immune response (Orzel-Gryglewska, 2010). This is in contrast to evidence suggesting that chronic sleep reduction does not actually impair cognitive functioning whatsoever, and any residue sleepiness resulting from the reduction can be overcome with time (Blagrove, Alexander, & Horne, 1995) However, the latter claim is subject to more research, but the idea that one can sleep six hours without consequence is a plus for those of us dreading the imminence of midterms.
I took a gander over to the Health Canada website, but strangely I couldn’t find any statement for sleep recommendations, except for infant care. Looking at the literature on sleep left me hesitant to make any solid conclusions. One particular review of the sleep research noted that some people are biologically geared to need less than seven hours of sleep per night; the article also cautioned researchers against stressing the importance of seven to eight hours of sleep per night due to the unnecessary anxiety this instills in people (Basner, 2011). One researcher says this, another says that. All in all, it seems that you’ve just got to find what works for you and stick with it.
On the other end of the spectrum, there is evidence that suggests sleep deprivation may be a suitable treatment for mood disorders, particularly depression (Benedetti & Colombo, 2009). Perhaps this is more evidence for the idea that sleep is best determined on an individual basis.
Like everything else, it seems that you kind of just have to figure out what works for you. A neat interactive site on sleeping with some fun facts and quizzes to further enlighten yourself is only a click away: http://www.bettersleep.ca/
References
Basner, M. (2011). Sleep duration and chronic sleep debt: Are 6 hours enough? Biological Psychology, 87(1), 15-16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.02.015
Beneditti, F., & Colombo, C. (2011). Sleep deprivation in mood disorders. Neuropsychobiology, 64(3), 141-151. http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000328947
Blagrove, M., Alexander, C., & Horne, J. A. (1995). The effects of chronic sleep reduction on the performance of cognitive tasks sensitive to sleep deprivation [Abstract]. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 9(1), 21-40.
Orzel-Gryglewska, J. (2010). Consequences of sleep deprivation. International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health, 23(1), 95-114. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/v10001-010-0004-9
