14 Comments

When people read articles saying they must get 7 hours sleep for optimal mental/cognitive function they become so concerned about their nightly shortfall of sleep they end up being unable to sleep.

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Aldrin

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I doubt the sleep question is a one-size-fits-all.

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Great advertiser today!

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Thank you! Good read, my experience lines up with this pretty well.. Consistency is important and some daily exercise will remind your body that you have more life going on the next day. Rhythm.

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I'm interested to know how the 7 hr ideal length relates to the apparent optimal 90 min sleep cycle, which would result in either 6 or 7.5 hrs.

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Way to go Buzz and Anca, congrats 🎉 (there’s hope for me yet)

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founding
Jan 25, 2023·edited Jan 25, 2023

Am I the only reader who is still anxious to know the groups vote outcome for favorite Christmas song(s)? Will this be posted by Valentines Day? 🤠. It is keeping me awake at night! 🤣

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I usually get at least 7 hours of sleep, and I believe it does make a difference. Being retired and not stressed as I have been in my past life, I still remember getting at least 7 hours, and it pays off. At my age I may still doze off watching TV, but doesn't everyone? One of the reasons to watch sports is that you miss very little with a nap, especially watching baseball. Does napping count towards the 7 hours?

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I hate to nap but I totally agree with your thoughts on baseball! Any nap leaves me groggy and take away from falling asleep quickly. But that’s for me and I know others are different.

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founding

I don’t know about falling asleep in front of the TV. We don’t have TV or even Netflix or Disney. We have — books. 🤠

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Kudos to Michael Gray!

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It's amazing to me that we always seem to look to SCIENCE to give us that answer to every behavior, mood, almost every thought we have in order to explain it all. As has been pointed out, the study may not apply to everyone, even though 500,000 is a pretty good sized sample. However, since we are all individuals, different amounts may apply to each of us. I don't need to narrow down to the last minute, how much sleep I "need" to function well, I can figure that out by monitoring how I behave and feel during the day. Also, correlation isn't causation, it's simply correlation.

Another question I would have is how did they measure mental health functioning, or well being, was it self report, or some other method. While it's an interesting study, and worth at least thinking about, I don't think I'll take it as the last word on how much sleep I need. That may vary depending on my own needs and moods.

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Two hours of streaming a night and the rest is books puzzles, hiking and biking. Plus nice meals that take time to prep.

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Where are my 14-16 hours of sleep peeps at? There's nothing like waking up after a good night's rest and eating a 2pm breakfast.

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