Is too Much Sleep Bad for You

Sleep is as essential to human being as having food and water. The body, rather the muscles and brain, require rest after the whole days' work and hence, it is essential to get a good night's sleep. Having proper sleep is a bliss as it refreshes the mind and the body. Some of the other benefits of sleep are; it reduces stress, helps in keeping the mind and the body healthy, improves memory, etc. So, how much sleep do we need? Actually, we are advised to sleep for 6-7 hours a day, every day. But, some of us are happy in our state of slumber for more than 6-7 hours. You may have often come across people who keep setting a record of their sleep for 15, 16, 18 hours, etc. Naturally arises the question what are the effects of excess sleep on your body. Let us take a look at it in detail.

Is Excess Sleep Bad for Your Health?

Before knowing whether excess sleep is bad for our health or not, let us know in brief the effects of lack of sleep. This condition is known as sleep deprivation. When the person does not sleep adequate amounts of sleep, he suffers from short term as well as long term side effects. In minor cases, lack of sleep can lead to drowsiness, confusion, difficulty in concentration, etc; whereas in the long run, this condition can affect the brain and the mental processes leading to memory loss, etc. Therefore, in order to avoid this, people are recommended to have sufficient amounts of sleep every day. Secondly, having a good and long sleep is widely considered as one of the best beauty tips. However, these theories are often misinterpreted and people tend to sleep for more than 8 hours which is actually not required. In fact, it can even lead to negative effects.

Firstly, too much sleep is not at all required by the human body. There have been records of people sleeping for a mere 4-5 hours, yet being able to function at their best every day. This may not be applicable to everyone. The importance of sleep is known to everyone, but a sleep for 6-7 hours is enough to relax your body and mind and you are just fit to function properly for the next day. It is believed that the mind tends to relax even when the person is not sleeping; as in while sitting calmly, using relaxation techniques, etc. Therefore, we come to a conclusion that sleep required by the body every day is merely 6-7 hours.

In minor cases, excess sleep can make a person drowsy and dull in the next day. Even when he has slept for a longer period of time, he is bound to feel lethargic and sleepy, which in turn can lead to loss of concentration and lack of work. Secondly, there are claims with ongoing researches about the exact effect of excess sleep on the body. In the research it was found that people who sleep for more than 10 hours a day, die earlier or younger. This is just a claim without any medical proof to it. It is simply a result a research with no known cause. But it is for sure that excess sleep is not at all essential for human beings.

Lastly, remember that even if excess sleeping may not be bad, you are surely wasting precious time of life, doing nothing creative, by simply dozing of, where you can utilize it for something creative and useful. Think about it. Good luck!