Does sleep become addictive?

I find your response very interesting because most little kids would rather get up and start playing with their toys than sleep. I remember when I was younger, I couldn't wait until the sun came up so I could get up and play again without my parents yelling at me that it was too early and to go back to bed. Christmas morning was always the hardest! (LOL) I'm glad you're able to get more sleep now as you're older and probably need the extra sleep. Thanks for your response!

Yeah I know I was an odd kid lol,while everyone else would be up playing,I would be asleep,and that sounds interesting you getting up to play and your parents yelling at you to go back to bed lol,but I do admit on Christmas morning I was always up to see what I got,and yeah now that I am getting older I need more sleep to function,and your very welcome for the response,and I hope that if I respond to peoples discussions they will respond too mine,have a great day,good luck in your life,and Happy Posting my friend.

It's not often that I take a power nap. Only when I haven't had a real good sleep at night and my routine (sleep pattern) is set. I usually need around 8 hours of good sleep to wake up fresh and not need a power nap. Enjoy your sleep while you can. You will definitely crave for it when you have kids..lol

I know the sleep deprivation is sure to come with kids if it hasn't come yet! (LOL) Thanks for the advice, though. It's so nice to have a heads up on what I should expect later on in life, especially when it comes to sleep, something we need so much of. It was amazing that I got to bed before midnight last night because I felt so rested when I got up for work this morning! I only got seven and a half hours of sleep last night, but considering my usual five or six hours a night, that was a treat! Thanks for your input.

I can't take a power nap. The reason for this is because I feel even more tired after taking a nap...I become cranky...irritable. That's why I save myself (and everyone else) the trouble of dealing with my mood. I just don't nap, and that's all there is to it. I'm glad naps work for you, though. I know many people who thrive on quick little naps during the day. I tried to do the same while I was in college, and I always ended up being late for class or sleeping right through class for trying to take a "quick" nap after lunch or in between classes. My last year of school I was smart and scheduled my classes three days a week so I had the other two days to sleep in and then do homework when I woke up! (LOL) I guess it all depends on the person of how long they need to sleep. I think 8 to 10 hours is the max someone should sleep at night. I know for me, it takes only 5 or 6 hours of sleep to keep me going for the next day. I guess I can thrive on very little sleep...at this point in my life, I'm trying to enjoy that because I figure I might need more as I get older. (LOL) I'll take advantage of it while I have it! Thanks, SV.

If a person sleeps for 8 hours each day, then he or she will still have 16 hours left to do whatever he or she wants to do for the rest of the day. If a person gets 8 hours, he or she won't need to take naps. If a person works 8 hours per day, he or she will still have 8 hours left in the day for himself or herself! I'm glad for your response because I never thought of each day like this...breaking it down by hours. It's a good way to look at it. I'm glad you agree that sleep is addictive. The more you give in to it, the more you'll want it. It can never be satisfied at that point. Thanks!

I couldn't agree with you more. I'd love to get a minimum of 9 hours sleep each night as you do. Unfortunately, I must survive on 5 at the very least. I'd be full of life and energy non-stop! I really like how you mentioned that you sleep more in the winter than you do in the summer. I find that very interesting because I've never thought about that before. I wonder what my seasonal sleeping habits would be? In the wintertime, there's usually no desirable weather outdoors to be able to participate in activities such as gardening, swimming, sports, etc. Because we don't get that necessary fresh air, we probably need to sleep longer in the winter. I'm sure everyone sleeps better in the summer since the fresh air clears the mind and allows for deeper sleep...at least, that's the way I look at it. That's probably why you find it necessary to sleep longer in the winter, aside from the fact that there's nothing better to do! Thanks for sharing. As always, yours was a wonderful response to read.

I almost forgot to mention the things I like about your response. The solid truth in your response rests in this one statement you made, "A happy medium is required but of course it varies from person to person." A happy medium is essential to keeping the body at its best. I couldn't have said it better myself.

You are welcome JJ

Thanks, Gabs! Yes, I know I made a mistake sleeping in too long and knew I was in trouble as soon as I woke up! What a horrible feeling of grogginess and being out of it for the remainder of the day that I was awake. Getting took much sleep makes a person want to just give up and go back to sleep because it's impossible to do anything else! I like how you say sleep can actually be a drain on the body. I never thought of it that way, but when the body is done sleeping, you can't force it back to sleep and think it will awake normally. It's like forcing your arm to bend in a way it won't go. That's not natural at all. Your response really provoked some excellent thoughts for me. Thank you for your wonderful contribution to this discussion.

Thanks JJ. You have always been appreciative. Right now I am feeling very sleepy. It's more of lack of sleep yesterday night than of over sleeping though. lol...

LOL - I suppose I have no room to talk today because I accidentally overslept 45 minutes this morning! Believe it or not, as amazing as it might seem, though (LOL), I was only 10 minutes late to work! I was in shock, but I'm glad it worked out. I didn't rush to get ready either. I just figured I'd be a little late to work, and it wouldn't be a big deal. I thought I might be closer to 30 minutes late to work, but everything was just fine. I hope you get more sleep in the next few days. The weekend will be here before you know it, so maybe you'll have extra time to sneak in some naps. Thanks!

I couldn't have said it better myself! More sleep makes us more tired, generally speaking. A lot does depend on daily activities and habits, but I think you got right down to the main causes and effects. Thanks for your response. I agree with you completely.

If I oversleep, I get a headache too. I can usually tell when enough sleep is enough! The only other time my head hurts after I've been sleeping is if I'm using a pillow that isn't mine or one of my "regular" pillows. I say "regular" because my real pillow is a water pillow. Half of it is filled with water. I have some back and neck issues, so I'm a regular patient to the chiropractor. They suggested this water pillow to me because of my neck problems. I've slept like a baby ever since I got it! It just sounds kind of funny that it's a water pillow. My fiance has a water bed, so when we get married that should be a pretty interesting combination with a water pillow and bed! (LOL) Thanks for your input on this discussion. I'm not a napper, but I'm really glad that you've found a habit that works for you when you can't get your 8 hours of sleep. Thanks!

If coffee will keep you awake, then you're doing just fine! (LOL) I know coffee is so good for keeping a person from getting tired. I have to be careful with coffee, though, since it keeps me awake at night if I drink it too late in the day! That happened to me once at college, and I hated it. I couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard I tried or how tired my body was. I'll never do that again! Thank you for your response. I agree with your perspective on this topic as well.

I couldn't have said it better myself! I'm the same exact way, and your response reflects my thoughts precisely. I haven't slept in for quite a while, but when I have the chance it scares me because I know how little self discipline I have when I keep telling myself to go back to sleep when I start waking up. I guess I'm just lazy when it comes to that. I'm glad you can relate!

I'm so glad there's someone else as crazy as me! (LOL) Just kidding, but I'm so bad about getting up on the weekends when I have the opportunity to sleep in. If I have the time to sleep in, no matter what I have going on those weekend days, I sleep right through the morning to the early afternoon. It's such a waste of drive and drives me crazy that I don't have more self discipline, but I enjoy sleeping so much. I guess I really do have the addiction! This is very sad. (LOL) It makes me feel better that you struggle as I do, however. We're only human! I haven't had a chance or the time to sleep in for months now. If I did have the chance, I'd probably take advantage of it and take it for granted all over again. I guess sleeping in on the weekends is my weakness! I don't believe in taking naps either since they make me cranky. (LOL) Thanks for your honest response. I'm relieved by it!

I think I could probably sleep a whole day straight, too, but that doesn't mean it's good for me! (LOL) Thanks for you response because I completely agree with you. A person shouldn't get more than 10 hours maximum unless he or she is sick. In that case, he or she would need extra sleep to help the body heal. You have a good point about going to bed earlier if a person needs more sleep. I really need to start doing that, but I just can't bring myself to get into a good habit like that! I appreciate your response. It's very helpful.

No there's something I hadn't thought about before. If someone gets too much sleep at night and sleeps in too long in the morning, it only makes sense that they wouldn't be able to sleep that same night. It begins a continuous cycle where they go to sleep late at night since they can't get to sleep until then and continuously wake up later and later each morning. This habit isn't good for someone who works, though! In that instance, sleep can become quite dangerous. I agree with you that proper diet and self discipline as far as sleep is concerned will definitely help your sleeping patterns to become what they should be. Thank you for your insightful response, Music.

Depression can cause a person to want to sleep more as an "escape" like you said. I've been there and done that, but never really thought about it being an escape from anything. It's true, though. If you don't want to confront anything, sleep is a great way to avoid everything. It's sometimes a good thing. I agree with you, too, on the amount of sleep people need to feel rested and stay healthy. Believe it or not, I got seven and a half hours of sleep last night. I really did feel rested and relaxed when I woke up, not like all I wanted to do was crawl back into bed and give up on the day. (LOL) I never thought of sleep having to do with metabolism, but I can definitely see where that would come into play. You've brought up a lot of good points in regards to sleep, and many of which I never thought of before. I really appreciate your response. It's very interesting and brought up some really great things to think about! I'm definitely going to revisit this one. I'm having brain cramps right now (LOL), but I'm sure I'll have more to say about this later. Take care and thanks again!

I think if I didn't have a job, I'd definitely be addicted to sleep too! I never thought of stress playing a factor in sleep, but it really does. If you don't have enough sleep, you can get really stressed. If you're stressed, I think you did the right thing by going to sleep early...waking up late just adds the icing on the cake, so to speak! I honestly can't remember the last time I slept in past 8 a.m. It's pretty pathetic, I know. Thanks for your input!

I'm happy to hear you're on a good sleeping schedule. That's what it's all about! If you have good sleeping habits, you have nothing to worry about regarding this issue. It's sad sleeping has become such a problem (or oversleeping, I should say) because it seems like it'd be so good for us! I've said this several times, but it's so true. Too much of a good thing can be really bad for the body in this case. I don't feel so bad now that I hear of your "normal" 5-hour-a-night sleeping habit. I'm the same way! (LOL) Of course, that's a minimum amount for me; otherwise, I can't function at all whatsoever! Thanks for sharing. Like I said, I feel a lot less guilty about my sleeping patterns!

You're so right. Our bodies desire and need a pattern, a habit we can stick to. Of course, we're only human so it's hard to be consistent all the time, especially when it comes to sleep! One day we can feel just fine and another day we can feel like collapsing if we weren't able to squeeze in a nap. It's so odd, but so intriguing all at the same time. I loved reading your thoughts on this topic and thanks for sharing!

In a perfect world, everything would be as you say. I'd love it to be that way! Getting up the same time every day would be ideal for the human body. There would be no shock or inconsistencies at all. Life is about a delicate balance of activities. Once we find this balance in our sleeping patterns, I believe we will be more healthy and more successful in our lives. By the way, I hate naps. It's not to say that I don't enjoy them when I'm experiencing them, but it's just like you said. When I lie down to take a nap and then awake however many minutes later, I so regret even lying down because of how awful I feel! After a nap, I feel that I need to keep lying down and getting more rest. That in and of itself makes me believe that sleep is addictive! Thanks for your honesty and excellent contribution to this discussion.

I can tell by your response that you most definitely know what you're talking about! It was one of the most interesting that I've read yet. It brought a lot of questions and ideas to my mind that I'd love to share with you. First of all, I never thought of the need to awake after several hours of sleep to relieve the body "of the toxins that built up in the kidneys and bladder overnight," as you mentioned. Of course, I've thought of those particular issues, but I've never thought of those facts in relation to the need to awake. That's probably why the body feels so tired. It's trying so hard to make room for the harmful items because they've built up in the many hours the body slept. I'd like to pick your brain for a moment. This is one of the things I thought of when reading your response. You mentioned sleep as being an individual thing, meaning it depends on the person. With this, you mentioned sleeping patterns as well. I sometimes find myself jerking in my sleep, causing me to actually wake up. The interesting thing is that it's completely involuntary, but somehow manages to awaken me from sleep. It's very annoying, of course. It's kind of scary too. I've never had a dream during such an action. That probably eliminates a few different causes of why such a thing would occur. I might be opening a whole different can of worms on this one, but I can tell you know what you're talking about, so I thought I'd bring that up. Another thing I wanted to mention is that I've actually successfully (and completely) woken up, used the restroom, gone back to sleep, and continued a dream for where it left off. Interesting! Have you experienced the same? I surely hope so as it's like you said, a mysterious experience. I love how you brought up the subject of dreaming. You're right, sleep allows us to do things we couldn't or wouldn't ever do physically in our lifetime. I've never and would absolutely never even consider skydiving, but I've done it in my dreams! After having that experience, who really needs to go do it in person? (LOL) Another factor you brought up was that sleep allows us to decrease weight. I find that very interesting. I wish it were the other way around for my sake as I'm slightly underweight (LOL), but how can a person actually lose weight by sleeping? I don't have a doubt you're exactly right about it, but I'm just curious. There's so much more than can be said of this subject. I really appreciate and (obviously) enjoyed reading your response. I'd love to hear more from you about this. Keep up the good work, my friend.

You're so right! I never thought about vacations. When I read your response, it reminded me of lying on the beach with an umbrella shading my face as I take a nice, long nap. I think it's great to sleep on the beach, but you have to be careful of the sunburn! Thanks, Anarki.