how much sleep can you happily get by on ?

[siliconmix]

i'm happy with 4.5 hours.

[olsenn]

8 hours at LEAST

[G7PSK]

Can never seem to get enough these days however long I sleep.

[Mechatrommer]

today 0 hour, tomorrow 12hours

[MikeK]

I question whether you're actually "happy" with 4.5 hours.  I've had insomnia for almost 10 years (it was chronic for over half that) and have participated in sleep studies...You're not getting all stages of sleep with only 4.5 hours.

Also, mental depression causes a weird correlation in that sufferers feel better the less REM sleep they get.

If you're reasonably healthy and getting regular exercise, your body will want way more than 4.5 hours.

[EEVblog]

I used to get by on a lot less regularly when younger, but these days I need about 7-8 hours or so.
Maybe I don't need it, but that's what I try to get!

Dave.

[Time]

im ok with 5-6 but I prefer 7-8.  I am 27 and as I get older I am noticing an increasing trend in the amount of sleep I need to feel productive.

[Spawn]

Well I got sleeping disorder (or whatever you call it) I should sleep 8 hours but the weekly average is max 4 hours Got prof help for it but it works for couple weeks and I start all over again, I refuse to use medicine for it.

[slateraptor]

Squeezed in 4 hours this morning, which is about the weekday norm. 8-10 hours on weekends, especially after getting shitface wasted on Friday night.

P.S. I'm 28-ish.

[MikeK]

Well I got sleeping disorder (or whatever you call it) I should sleep 8 hours but the weekly average is max 4 hours Got prof help for it but it works for couple weeks and I start all over again, I refuse to use medicine for it.

I had doctors instruct me on a behavioral approach.  They gave me medicine, but it didn't help.  It does, however, help some people.

The behavioral approach is to find out how much time you are actually sleeping.  Then restrict your in-bed time to that amount of time minus 30 minutes or so.  Keep a strict schedule.  Eventually your body will really need to have more and you slowly increase your in-bed time by 15 minutes at a time.

I have occasional problems, but I'm close to a 7-hour norm these days.  For a while I was running on 3 hours (and it led to depression).

Sleep is not something to treat lightly.  You can cause physical harm by not letting your body repair itself, and it only does that in certain stages of sleep.

[ee851]

Speaking of physical harm,     I should mention that a woman fell asleep while driving and her car went into the opposing lane and was hit by a truck.     She was crippled.     

I fell asleep while driving one night.    My truck went off the road, over the side, flipped over a couple of times and fell down the hill.    When I woke up, I was very confused because I could not see the road in front of me.   It just wasn't there.    I thought for a minute that I was dreaming.      I was lucky.   I survived without injury.     If I had been driving a small, lightweight car, I too would probably have been maimed or killed.    But I was driving a large, heavy, sport-utility vehicle and was strapped in.

I generally need six hours of sleep per night.   But when I'm physically exhausted, I need more sleep.    When I fell asleep at the wheel, I was physically exhausted.

So a sleep disorder can kill.   Or worse, maim.

[siliconmix]

I question whether you're actually "happy" with 4.5 hours.  I've had insomnia for almost 10 years (it was chronic for over half that) and have participated in sleep studies...You're not getting all stages of sleep with only 4.5 hours.

Also, mental depression causes a weird correlation in that sufferers feel better the less REM sleep they get.

If you're reasonably healthy and getting regular exercise, your body will want way more than 4.5 hours.

i went to the doctors about it , he checked me over and i'm ok.i never go to bed before 2 am.trouble is everyone else is asleep in the house so i tip to around .i get a lot of ideas between midnight and 2.i dont drink alcohol ,smoke or take drugs.just wondering if there where any other happy nightowls.it was great when we had new borns no pressure at all.

[orbiter]

8-9 hrs for me. Any less and I'm a narky bugger

[T4P]

I am okay on any amount of sleep , except the next night i get extremely tired .
But that happens when i wake up with a idea suddenly and jump straight to my bench and commence operation .

[Jad.z]

If tomorrow is going to be a real working day then 8~9 hours;
Else 7 hours;

[Zyvek]

Well I got sleeping disorder (or whatever you call it) I should sleep 8 hours but the weekly average is max 4 hours Got prof help for it but it works for couple weeks and I start all over again, I refuse to use medicine for it.

I've got a different sleep disorder - The doc says I don't stay in REM sleep long enough and told me, "you could sleep eight or eighteen hours and you'd still feel like you didn't get enough sleep."  Without medication I'd sleep at least 10-12 hours each night.....     

[Kibi]

8 hours is good for me although with work the way it is it's more like 6 these days.