Getting a good night’s sleep not only improves your mood but also improves your mental performance and enhances your overall health. Most adults need more than 7 hours a night to stay healthy. Children and adolescents need even more to support their growth.
Young people should get eight to ten hours of sleep each night, 9 hours a week, and schoolchildren 10 to 13 hours a day.
Many people wonder if it is possible to “break” their sleep to spend a few hours in bed but still wake up feeling relaxed and productive. The short answer is yes and no – but mostly no.
Your sleep level plays a role in determining how relaxed you will feel when you wake up. Improving your sleep quality can reduce the number of hours you need to spend in bed.
However, even if your sleep level is high, sleeping a few hours longer than recommended is detrimental to your health and mental health. You may be able to do it for a few days, but in the end, the lack of rest will catch up with you.
Keep reading to find out why it is unlikely that you will feel restless after sleeping for just four hours all night long. We will also look at why some people seem to be able to work less sleep than others.
Is it healthy or is it possible to sleep 4 hours a night?
For most people, getting four hours of sleep each night is not enough to wake up feeling relaxed and mentally alert, no matter how well they sleep.
There is a common belief that you can adapt to unrestricted sleep, but there is no evidence that the body works in harmony with sleep deprivation.
Also, people who exercise regularly need more than the recommended minimum hours to give their body time to rejuvenate themselves from further physical stress.
A 2018 study that examined the sleep patterns of more than 10,000 people found that sleeping 4 hours a night each night was equivalent to adding 8 years to the brain of participants.
Getting enough sleep for less than 7 hours each night may increase the risk of developing complications such as:
- disappointment
- obesity
- high blood pressure
- anxiety
- diabetes
- to prevent sleep apnea
- stroke
- psychosis
- cardiovascular disease
- Sleep requires genetic modification
There is one caveat when it comes to sleep that you need: Everyone’s body is different, and some people can be more successful with a few hours of sleep than others.
Scientists have found an unusual mutation of the ADRB1 type in people who can feel at rest for less than 6.5 hours of sleep a night without any significant health effects.
If you have this genetic mutation, you may feel restless or sleep less than the recommended number of hours.
Polyphasic Sleep
Polyphasic sleep means sleeping more often in a 24-hour period instead of sleeping once each night.
There are many different types of polyphasic. One of the most common programs involves taking six 20-minute breaks divided equally throughout the day for a total of 3 hours a day.
Many people say that polyphasic sleep allows you to sleep well and get equal rest in a few hours. However, there is no medical evidence that polyphasic sleep is better than traditional sleep.
Sleep deprivation in polyphasic systems can have serious health consequences like other sleep deprivation methods. However, there is limited research on these types of systems, because most people who follow polyphasic systems stick to them for a while.
FAQ
How bad is 4 hours sleep?
Several sleep researchers said they're most worried about really short sleepers, those who get less than four hours, regardless of how this habit makes them feel. Experts also suspect that feeling tired or fuzzy-headed after sleeping four to six hours is a signal that something is wrong.
Can you survive on 4 hours sleep?
For most people, 4 hours of sleep per night isn't enough to wake up feeling rested and mentally alert, no matter how well they sleep. There's a common myth that you can adapt to chronically restricted sleep, but there's no evidence that the body functionally adapts to sleep deprivation.
