Editor's note: Kleine-Levin Syndrome mostly affects teen boys, causing them to sleep up to 20 hours a day during episodes that can last weeks. It's rare, possibly affecting one person in a million, with a higher incidence among Jewish people.
Idiopathic Hypersomnia
View Source , excessive sleepiness, and the inability to feel rested after sleeping at night or napping during the day. With this disorder, you may sleep as much as 14 to 18 hours a day. For treatment, doctors often prescribe medications similar to what is prescribed for narcolepsy.
Hypersomnia means excessive sleepiness. There are many different causes, the most common in our society being inadequate sleep. This may be due to shiftwork, family demands (such as a new baby), study or social life. Other causes include sleep disorders, medication, and medical and psychiatric illnesses.
Although less common, Parkinson's disease and myotonic dystrophy can cause hypersomnia. In extremely rare cases, excessive sleep can be a symptom of Kleine-Levin syndrome, a disorder characterized by recurring episodes of excessive sleep up to 20 hours per day, according to the National Institutes of Health.
According to a New York Post report, she can sleep for up to 22 hours every day due to a rare disorder. The woman identified as Joanna Cox from Castleford, West Yorkshire in England, claims that she once slept for four days without waking up.
Successful entrepreneurs, including Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett, prioritise rest and swear by seven to eight hours of peaceful sleep. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square, reportedly wakes up at five every morning, while Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group, rises at 5:45 am.
Koalas are thickset arboreal marsupials with a thick grey fur. Found only living in Australia, they mainly live in the eucalyptus trees and spend around 22 hours of their time sleeping (90%). They spend the other 10% of their day eating and sitting around.
As long as KLS sufferers remain in their state of sleep, their sense of time and memory are lost. Arielle Farber first began showing signs of KLS in 1994, when she returned home to Boston from summer camp and headed straight to bed and stayed there, sleeping almost 23 hours a day.
Other possible causes of oversleeping include the use of certain substances, such as alcohol and some prescription medications. Other medical conditions, including depression, can cause people to oversleep. And then there are people who simply enjoy sleeping for long periods of time.
It's important to remember that oversleeping is a possible symptom of depression and that oversleeping doesn't cause depression. But it can exacerbate and worsen depression symptoms, Dr. Drerup explains. “If someone's oversleeping, they may wake up and feel like they've missed out on the day,” she says.
Parasomnias are a sub-category of sleep disorder. They involve abnormal and unnatural movements, behaviours, emotions, perceptions and dreams that occur while falling asleep, during sleep, between sleep stages or upon waking. Most people experience a parasomnia during their lifetime.
Most likely, you're still tired after a full night of sleep because you don't know your sleep need, you're getting less sleep than you think, you've got sleep debt, or you're out of sync with your circadian rhythm.
You may be drowsy in the day if you have insomnia (trouble falling or staying asleep) or another condition that keeps you from getting enough rest at night, such as chronic pain, depression, anxiety, an overactive bladder, restless legs syndrome, or sleep apnea (frequent pauses in breathing during sleep).
The bare minimum of sleep needed to live, not just thrive, is 4 hours per 24-hour period. Seven to 9 hours of sleep are needed for health, renewal, learning, and memory. Disruption of the sleep cycle from shift work creates problems for the quality and quantity of sleep.
In medical terms, oversleeping means sleeping more than nine hours in 24 hours. It's associated with a higher risk of several conditions, including heart disease, stroke, and heart failure. That doesn't mean it causes those conditions. Instead, oversleeping may be a symptom of other underlying conditions.
It's true a good night's sleep is essential for health. But oversleeping has been linked to a host of medical problems, including diabetes, heart disease, and increased risk of death.
Ancient Sleeping Patterns
During and before the 15th Century, we used to sleep in two shorter periods over 12 hours. Due to a lack of artificial lighting and candlelight, our ancient ancestors went to bed at dusk for around four hours, woke in the middle of the night and were active, then slept again until dawn.
Jeff Bezos has revealed his optimal sleep time in order to be the best he can at his job. The Amazon mogul's success is seen as the ultimate goal for entrepreneurs. "I get eight hours of sleep a night.
Why Do Snails Sleep So Long? Snails need moisture to survive; so if the weather is not cooperating, they can actually sleep up to three years.
10 HOURS OF SLEEP AND ONE-SECOND NAPS
It's common knowledge that sleep is good for your brain – and Einstein took this advice more seriously than most. He reportedly slept for at least 10 hours per day – nearly one and a half times as much as the average American today (6.8 hours).