Myths About Sleep
May 22, 2015 Uncategorized 10 comments vmorris15
Everyone has heard plenty of things about sleeping and how important it is. Some of the time the myths we hear are so wrong that it can actually be dangerous to someone’s health. Here are some myths about sleep you might have believed.
- Daytime sleepiness always means a person is not getting enough sleep. This is untrue because there are medical problems that cause people to get tired during the day even if they are oversleeping.
- The older you get, the less amount of sleep you need. The myth about how children need more sleep because they are growing is not true. The amount of sleep you need in your life generally stays about the same and will not change much over your lifetime.
- During the time you sleep your brain shuts off. This is untrue because the brain keeps working through the night as you sleep. Really the brain is just recharging while someone sleeps.
- You need 8 hours of sleep specifically. This is untrue because that number is just an average. Everyone is different and needs a different amount of sleep. 8 hours is just a general number that someone should be sleeping around.
- Some people can function normally on hardly any sleep. This is untrue because even though it may not seem like it, the signs will show eventually of a sleep deprived person, especially if they are doing this often.
All of these myth about sleep don’t seem too important. If you did believe some of these myths and listened to them, it could be very dangerous to your health. I have heard some of these myths before like the one about how the younger you are the more sleep you need because your body is growing. I thought that this was true because it sounds like it makes sense. Now I realize that I feel like I still need the same amount of sleep as I did when I was younger. Also I used to think that people did need to get 8 hours of sleep to be healthy. I now know that this is a myth because everyone’s bodies are different so not everyone is going to need the same amount of sleep. I have heard most of these myths about sleep, and I did believe most of them. Now realizing that these ‘facts’ about sleep are untrue, they seem kind of obvious to me. Most of these myths are so common that it make people feel like they must be true, but if you just think about it you can tell that something about them doesn’t seem right.
Featured Image: “366 • 149 • Last day before final exam” by Svein Halvor Halvorsen @flickr
10 Comments
Wow I had no idea that the amount of sleep needed from when I was younger to now is the same! Thank you for clarifying these myths, this was super informative!
Along with Heather’s comment, I didn’t know the difference between the hours children and adults got for sleep is the same! Great post!
I also thought that some of these myths were true. Could you clear up another myth for me? Is it true that if a person goes a long period of time without sleeping they can die?
@Dsamson15 Yes that one is actually true. It is true because it can cause many health problems which can eventually lead to death. This is not something that happens very often, but is possible.
Do you think there are more myths about sleep out there? Is it important that people learn that these are myths? They are very interesting facts and a really good post for teenagers because I think we are the ones that think we can skip on sleep and be okay. Good post!
Yes there are more myths about sleep, but the ones in this article are the more common / important ones. I think that it is important for people to know about some of these myths. I think this is important because some of these myths can cause serious health problems if you do them without realizing that they are untrue.
Wow these myths are common misconceptions. I believed almost everyone of the myths. This piece is very informative and helpful. I just have another question regarding sleep deprivation. Can some people handle sleep deprivation better than others and recover more quickly? If so, what would be the typical body type of that person?
Well, that is very interesting. I was very surprised about the older you get the less sleep you need myth because I honestly 100% believed that myth and it’s still hard for me to accept it (and I know you are not lying or anything, it’s just because I had been believing that for so long it’s weird for me now). Another thing you said makes me wonder a bit too because I remember that the amount of sleep that I had or needed, till I woke up when I was younger, and till now has varried quite a lot (is that part of when you said we need varrying hours to sleep?) Do you think that our emotions could be a factor in how long we sleep; for example if we have been calm for a week or something may be able to sleep longer compared to a person that has been stressed or agitated for a while as well wakes up earlier or sleeps later because the body knows that it needs to rest…
Very interesting and informative! although I have another one for you. Does the matter of how good you sleep rely on how deep you sleep.
This post was very informative and helpful! I had no idea that everyone needed a different amount of sleep. I always thought it was 8 hours for everyone.