Only getting five hours of sleep affects a person's daytime functioning, sense of well-being, and both their mental and physical health. Though one night of insufficient sleep has consequences, the effects of sleep deprivation are cumulative.
This is because our brain is constantly forming new connections while we are awake. The longer we are awake, the more active our minds become. Scientists believe that this is partly why sleep deprivation has been shown to reduce symptoms of depression. However, there are negative outcomes of this, too.
Importance of Sleep
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has recommended that children aged 6–12 years should regularly sleep 9–12 hours per 24 hours and teenagers aged 13–18 years should sleep 8–10 hours per 24 hours.
Elon Musk says he's upped his sleep to 6 hours per night—and that his old routine hurt his brain. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, speaks with CNBC on May 16th, 2023. Elon Musk says his days of trying to sleep less and work more are over — at least, relatively speaking.
While some people regularly function on short periods of sleep, research mostly agrees that six hours of sleep is not enough for most adults. Experts recommend that most adults need at least seven hours of sleep every night.
Scientists have found that five hours is the absolute minimum amount of rest you can get away with – any less and there is an associated risk of health problems.
Getting up for a short while can help if you have trouble falling asleep sometimes or if you occasionally wake up and can't go back to sleep. But you don't want to have to do it every night. If you have trouble falling asleep, it's best to train your body to wind down and relax with a pre-sleep routine each night.
If you are not getting enough sleep, your body will eventually make you sleep. How long it takes you to fall asleep (sleep latency) is affected by how much your body needs to sleep.
Unfortunately, most people cannot have a healthy lifestyle with only four hours of sleep, research suggests. However, personal and anecdotal evidence supporting shorter sleep by using polyphasic sleep suggests otherwise. This means that we cannot say for sure if you can thrive on four hours of sleep.
Chronic sleep deprivation is defined as a curtailed sleep that persists for three months or longer. Chronic sleep deficiency or insufficient sleep can describe ongoing sleep deprivation as well as poor sleep that occurs because of sleep fragmentation or other disruptions.
When should I go to ER? Sleep deprivation isn't a condition that causes immediate, life-threatening problems, so it doesn't need emergency treatment. However, it can raise the risk of heart attack and stroke, both of which are emergency conditions that need immediate medical care.
The upsides of napping
If you usually work during the day, for instance, a 20- to 30-minute nap can restore alertness without leaving you groggy or disrupting your sleep the next night, Dr. Atwood said.
Five hours of sleep is better than none. But five hours of sleep isn't enough sleep in the long term. Most of us need about eight hours of sleep, and only getting five hours can lead to sleep deprivation, low energy, poor focus, and long-term health issues.