How many hours sleep do you need in order to function (and stay healthy)

Please….... someone say 4 hours!

I ain’t getting no sleep these days

Generally, you need eight hours of sleep.
Some need more and some less.
It all depends.
But to build a healthy immune system, restore your memory and rest your body, you need to make sure you get about eight hours of sleep.
Trust me, I wish it was less, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Me or in general? In general, “Most adults, on the other hand, need about 7 to 9 hours of sleep to feel fully rested. But, it’s also possible for some people to need as few as 5 hours, or as many as 10.”

Source

For me, it’s anywhere between 6 and 8. Less than 6 and I’m not very nice!

I generally need 7–8, but I rarely have consistent sleep patterns. I’ll sleep 5–6 hours a night for two weeks, then have one day where I have a nap in the afternoon and 12 hours that night. The amount I need is also highly dependant on how motivated I am with my exercise.

Six hours seems to be best for me. I’ll wake up feeling really refreshed and ready for my day. If I get more than that, I wake up feeling really tired and I just want to sleep all day.

I can function for one ot two days on just 2 to 3 hours, but I wouldn’t stay healthy. Usually 6 is the minimum, 7 is better. I don’t need 8 hours.

I sleep 12–16… last night I slept 23 hours because I woke up at 7 am and had breakfast and walked downtown.

I feel fine now; I got maybe 7 hours last night. I’ll probably start feeling sleepy in a few hours if all I do is write on the computer. It doesn’t seem to matter how much sleep I get, though. I get sleepy if I’m sitting, and I am fine if I am doing something physical.

I can function quite well on 4 hours, but I prefer not to do that. This is different from maybe a decade ago. Up until then, I absolutely needed 7–9 hours every night. Something changed after that and about three years ago, I had a manic episode and I barely got two hours of sleep per night for a long time. If I’d had someone to stay up with, I probably never would have gone to sleep. It wasn’t really fun, except in retrospect. It feels like I could have played all day and all night if the conditions were right. But maybe the past is always that way.

@talljasperman 12–16 a night? Have you always been like this? Maybe you should see a doctor.

Seven works well for me, but I don’t believe there’s a hard and fast rule.

7.5

Between 7 – 9, I usually get less that i should around 5 or so.

About a half-hour more than I actually get every night.

I hate sleep with a passion and wish that somebody would cure it. When I was in college I used what is called the uber-man sleep schedule which is supposed to do the trick on 4 hours of sleep a day seperated out over the day. It worked for me for a few months but it seemed impossible to keep it up for very long…

4 hours @iammia… And even less if you know how to power sleep!!!

Personally, I love sleep and need at least 7 hours to feel OK. Any less and I feel like a zombie when I wake up.

In general, I’ve heard that 7 – 9 hours is ideal for most adults.

I’m like @Seaofclouds, 6 is the best for me, and I feel really groggy and lazy if I sleep more.
Sometimes when I sleep less than 6, I feel energized and I feel like tackling the world.

I believe as you get older you don’t need as much. I been running on 5 to 6 and functioning just fine with coffee and energy drinks.

Nine. In order to feel well rested and comfortable I need nine hours of sleep. Do I get nine hours of sleep? Rarely.

I seem to go through yearly cycles. In the hotter months I need less (6–8), in the cooler months I need more (8–10). Hibernation instincts or something.

4.

I can survive on 7 each night, but function better on a regular 8…

Between 7 and 8 hours is fine for me….. any less and I don’t function properly, any more and I have a headache for most of the day.

I never seem to get enough sleep but then I am reliably informed that this is par for the course when a single parent… I generally get between 6 and 8 hours but this as stated never seems enough…I could sleep for a week right now…but that’s probably more to do with the depression I guess.

edit: I actually think that I’m really a hedgehog and just preparing for winter!

It all depends on your age, as shown on the chart on this web site:
http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleeping.htm

I get around 6–7 a night, and it seems like enough.

Let’s put it this way: I’m in love with sleeping. I once had to break up with a girlfriend because when she came to my house to sleep over… she wouldn’t sleep!

I generally only get around five or six hours sleep through the week, on the weekends I have good reason to go to bed early & get up late ;-)

For me to actually function well and not be tired at all, I would need between 10–12 hours, which ain’t happenin’. I have endometriosis, and it really seems to mess with my energy and sleep patterns. I usually get between 7–9 hours a night, but it’s never enough.

I am happy and healthy with 7. I don’t sleep in at weekends either, and I never need an alarm clock.

I think a regular bed time is more important than the amount of hours of sleep you need. Lie-ins can be good on occasion and you need to get up earlier some times but as long as you have a routine bed time it’s much healthier. If I went to bed at 3am and slept ‘til 11am it would be unhealthier than going to bed at 11pm and sleeping ‘til 7am, despite getting 8hrs of sleep in both situations.

Anywhere from 6 hrs on, I’m good to go. I’ve been known to get 4–5 pretty consistently during high school, and last year when I had very early classes. I was able to function, but usually napped later. In high school I actually rarely napped, that wasn’t til college. I have no idea how I managed that! I was usually exhausted/depressed back then, so there ya have it.

At least 9. Wow, that sounds like a long time. I’m amazed at the fact that my dad can have a night shift, get 5 hours of sleep during the day, and go the rest of the time.

I usually get at least 8 to 10 hours of sleep, but on weekends, when I babysit my grandsons, I only get about 7 or 8.