Does anyone know why some people seem to need more sleep than others?

People with slower metabolisms sleep longer.

This is what I know from studies I have read:

Young men need more sleep than young women.

Teens need more sleep than adults.

Infants more sleep than toddlers.

Elderly need less sleep (if they lead a less active lifestyle)

Here’s a chart on sleep needs

There are some interesting medical studies on sleep found here

This statement was found to be sorta true “Inactivity breeds laziness” in this study where too much sleep was found to make people fat
/news/Sleep/1–1249,45848.asp

Sleepiness can also be a symptom of depression.

But in all, you just may like sleeping. It might be your dosha type, too (Kapha doshas like to sleep)

@thanatos That’s odd….I’ve been told I move fast and I KNOW I talk fast. BTW—that moving fast thing irritates me when it’s brought up. You know, I parked the car and I know exactly what I’m going to do next which is get out. I don’t have to think about it for a few seconds!
@SpatzieLover Nice! Thank you.

Your body has a number of different “set points” for things like weight, temperature, and sleep. Genes seem to play a pretty big role in this. You can manipulate your set point for all of these things with diet and exercise, but those manipulations can only go so far.

I hear what you’re saying all too well. In the summers when I was a kid I decided to keep track for a while, and it turned out that left to my own devices I would easily sleep 11 hours/night. And it felt great! Now I have to force myself to go to bed based on when I need to be up, and if I mess up I’m useless without coffee.

A lot of people at work who seem to have energy and only have 5 or 6 hours of sleep a day… they make an incredible number of stupid (but usually minor) mistakes. But hundreds of mistakes EACH of them, per week. The 3 people there who sleep more than 7 or 8 hours a night… make almost zero mistakes. I know this cuz I review their work, and in the past have asked them what their sleeping schedules were.

Although my work experience may or may not reflect the regular population.

I used to sleep 5–6 hours a night when I was in high school. Two years later, namely today, I slept for 13 hours. I wish I knew why as well.

I haven’t noticed any change in my sleeping habits since I was a teenager. I still have my 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night and I never feel like I need more than that. I’ve never had a problem over sleeping or not sleeping enough. My internal clock is also very exact. I wake up at 7:30 every day regardless of what time I have to be at work or school.

Tha’ts weird… becausa almost every girl I know sleep longer than the guys (ages 18 to 24).
And when I was in my teens I slept least of all… and I’m a young male.. so I should sleep the most of everybody?

I get by with around 7 hours. And regularly pass a night when working late on projects.
Sometimes I sleep 11 hours… and that makes me lazy.. so my goals is always the normal 8 hours.

Peoples bodies become accustomed to the amount of sleep they’re given.
If you go a few months on 8 hours of sleep a night, you’ll be perfectly usedto it.
But sure if only “once in a while” you go 8 hours of sleep, you’ll notice it.

I am a short sleeper. I have been since I was young. I feel much better on 4 to 5 hours sleep than 7 or 8. If I sleep too long I feel crappy, tired and mean. If I sleep 5 hours, I wake up feeling good and rested. I don’t know why that is, but I’m not complaining. I hate to waste my time sleeping anyway.