Having enough, quality sleep is undeniably one of the most crucial factors when it comes to our mental and physical health, quality of life, and overall safety. Proper sleep not only leaves you feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day, it also improves learning, helps the heart and blood vessels repair themselves, promotes a healthy balance of hunger hormones, and aids the immune system.
For most people, seven to nine hours of sleep each night is sufficient, although your age, activity level, and health can shift that target in either direction. While sleep deprivation is a widespread problem, sleeping too much can be cause for concern as well. But how much is too much sleep?
Experts define oversleeping as sleeping more than nine hours in a 24-hour period. You’ve likely done that before when recovering from a stressful work week, or a busy travel weekend, or if your body was fighting a cold. In those cases, oversleeping is normal, says Safia Khan, MD, a specialist in sleep disorders and an assistant professor in the department of family and community medicine and the department of neurology at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
“If you’re just waking up late just to catch up on your sleep, that’s called recovery sleep,” Dr. Khan says. “But when you’re doing that habitually and sleeping more than eight or nine hours every day, that would be oversleeping.”
Read on to learn more about what causes oversleeping, the signs to look out for, and it may impact your overall health.
