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As someone who has struggled with sleep since childhood, I’ve been scared stiff by popular media that every ailment known to man is going to afflict me... under

As someone who has struggled with sleep since childhood, I’ve been scared stiff by popular media that every ailment known to man is going to afflict me... underperformance, won’t develop muscle, won’t form memories, cancer, heart attacks, ED, high blood pressure, whatever. I’ve always felt fine despite sleeping 5 hours. I wonder if the bell curve of what people need is centered on 8 hours and I’m just in the left hand tail somewhere?

wincy 8y ago
If it makes you feel any better in a weird way, Donald Trump supposedly sleeps only 4-5 hours a night and he’s 72 years old and healthy. https://www.businessinsider.com/some-people-only-need-a-few-hours-of-sleep-2016-12 https://www.businessinsider.com/some-people-only-need-a-few-...
- sxcurry 8y ago
  Mentally or physically healthy?
  - cptskippy 8y ago
    I would honestly question both but I'd bet money he isn't physically healthy.
    - sergeant_fatcat 8y ago
      Well I for one would love to have that kind of energy at this age. He's getting close to the average life expectancy by now so all in all it's fair to say he has lived a fairly healthy life? At this given moment he might not be though and we won't know unless something happens.
- phil_folrida 8y ago
  I'm not sure it is an example that go in the sense you think it goes.
- wnevets 8y ago
  is this satire?
  - wincy 8y ago
    Donald Trump is alive and he’s 72, and sleeps 4-5 hours a night. That’s all I’m stating. It was the first example that came to mind. I’m sure there’s others, I just recalled this article. I guess it’s like mentioning that Obama’s left handed when I say I’m left handed, conservatives would give me a weird look for comparing myself to Obama in any way, however benign.
    - wnevets 8y ago
      You described trump as healthy not just alive at 72. Trump's doctor admits the report on trump's health was fake. So I'm not sure what you're basing the healthy comment on. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/02/607638733/doctor-trump-dictated-letter-attesting-to-his-extraordinary-health https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/02/607638733...
    - WalterSear 8y ago
      4-5 hours a night according to Donald Trump.
- pastor_elm 8y ago
  That could be because he's come up with a very interesting theory about how exercise is bad for you because "the human body [is] like a battery, with a finite amount of energy, which exercise only deplete[s].”[0] He's still running on a full charge, while most men his age are near empty. [0]https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-thinks-that-exercising-too-much-uses-up-the-bodys-finite-energy/2017/05/12/bb0b9bda-365d-11e7-b4ee-434b6d506b37_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump...
  - goldfeld 8y ago
    Sounds like lack of sleep does funny things to his head.
- asianthrowaway 8y ago
  It's actually thanks to his healthy McDonalds based diet.
- abalone 8y ago
  “But while the new report may lift concerns about an early death, it still links insomnia with illnesses such as dementia and depression...”
- onemoresoop 8y ago
  Well, first, almost everything Donald says is a lie or an exaggeration and I doubt he sleeps 4-5 hours a night. Maybe on some nights but only he knows how much he sleeps. Second, I don't know how healthy he is, he seems like his mental faculties have declined drastically over the years. I watched some earlier Donald interviews and he was a lot more articulate and certainly seemed a whole lot more thoughtful, he was bragging less, etc. He totally lost that ability to control himself.
  - saturdaysaint 8y ago
    His Twitter timestamps lend some credence to his claims about his sleep. Not that anyone could believe he's doing anything productive in those hours.
    - onemoresoop 8y ago
      That still doesn't tell the whole truth. If I wake up every day at 4 am, how much do i sleep?? Well, you can't tell because you have no information on when I go to sleep.
- magic_beans 8y ago
  I would not trust anything that man or his person physician claims about him.
- nikkwong 8y ago
  it may be more accurate to attribute his longevity to his genes, instead of his reportedly rather poor lifestyle habits. his father lived to somewhere in his mid 90's.
  - FiveSquared 8y ago
    Due to wealth genetics. More money = better living conditions = less environment negativity
fredley 8y ago
I have the same. I need 7.30 a night, if I get more than that, I have trouble sleeping the next night, and feel terrible the next day. For a long time I was in a cycle of trying to get to bed early because I was so tired, not sleeping well, thoughts bouncing around my head, repeating ad nauseam. I eventually found a course[1] that went through a 'sleep restriction' cycle, essentially limiting the amount of time you're allowed in bed to the actual amount of time you're asleep, according to rough measurements through an app or whatever. For me this started at 5.30 hours. It was dreadful, but each week you spent 90%+ of the time actually in bed asleep, you could give yourself another 15 minutes. Eventually I settled on 7.30 as the amount of time I needed. I now have the occasional bad night, but I don't sweat it, and stick to 7.30 hours in bed each and every night on strict hours. It's transformed my life from the insomnia I had before. 1: https://www.sleepio.com/ https://www.sleepio.com/
akfanta 8y ago
> I’ve always felt fine despite sleeping 5 hours. Tons of people will pay good money to be genetically modified with that ability. You should feel lucky.
gradys 8y ago
This is extremely rare, way more rare than people who merely think they're fine with much less sleep. Given you seem to have spent a lot of time thinking about this, perhaps you've already been to a sleep medicine doctor, but if not, you really should. They'll be able to confirm you're one of the rare individuals who actually won't benefit from more sleep.
turc1656 8y ago
Not sure about the bell curve aspect of sleep, but scientists have discovered a gene that allows a very small portion of the population to be fully rested on about 4 hours of sleep a night. I suppose it's possible that you could have this gene. https://blog.sleepnumber.com/can-4-hours-of-sleep-a-night-be-healthy/ https://blog.sleepnumber.com/can-4-hours-of-sleep-a-night-be... Although it's also possible you have one of the other genes or conditions that alters your sleep needs. But usually that comes with associated side effects. You report feeling fine so not sure what to make of that.
dorchadas 8y ago
> I’ve always felt fine despite sleeping 5 hours This is part of it, I think. In Why we Sleep, Dr. Walker specifically mentions that we often don't realize how sleep deprived we truly are. Given the fact that, if you rounded the percentage of people who have the mutation needed for less sleep, there's an effectively 0% chance of you having it, I'd say that's what's coming into play here.

wincy 8y ago

If it makes you feel any better in a weird way, Donald Trump supposedly sleeps only 4-5 hours a night and he’s 72 years old and healthy. https://www.businessinsider.com/some-people-only-need-a-few-hours-of-sleep-2016-12 https://www.businessinsider.com/some-people-only-need-a-few-...

sxcurry 8y ago
Mentally or physically healthy?
- cptskippy 8y ago
  I would honestly question both but I'd bet money he isn't physically healthy.
  - sergeant_fatcat 8y ago
    Well I for one would love to have that kind of energy at this age. He's getting close to the average life expectancy by now so all in all it's fair to say he has lived a fairly healthy life? At this given moment he might not be though and we won't know unless something happens.
phil_folrida 8y ago
I'm not sure it is an example that go in the sense you think it goes.
wnevets 8y ago
is this satire?
- wincy 8y ago
  Donald Trump is alive and he’s 72, and sleeps 4-5 hours a night. That’s all I’m stating. It was the first example that came to mind. I’m sure there’s others, I just recalled this article. I guess it’s like mentioning that Obama’s left handed when I say I’m left handed, conservatives would give me a weird look for comparing myself to Obama in any way, however benign.
  - wnevets 8y ago
    You described trump as healthy not just alive at 72. Trump's doctor admits the report on trump's health was fake. So I'm not sure what you're basing the healthy comment on. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/02/607638733/doctor-trump-dictated-letter-attesting-to-his-extraordinary-health https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/02/607638733...
  - WalterSear 8y ago
    4-5 hours a night according to Donald Trump.
pastor_elm 8y ago
That could be because he's come up with a very interesting theory about how exercise is bad for you because "the human body [is] like a battery, with a finite amount of energy, which exercise only deplete[s].”[0] He's still running on a full charge, while most men his age are near empty. [0]https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-thinks-that-exercising-too-much-uses-up-the-bodys-finite-energy/2017/05/12/bb0b9bda-365d-11e7-b4ee-434b6d506b37_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump...
- goldfeld 8y ago
  Sounds like lack of sleep does funny things to his head.
asianthrowaway 8y ago
It's actually thanks to his healthy McDonalds based diet.
abalone 8y ago
“But while the new report may lift concerns about an early death, it still links insomnia with illnesses such as dementia and depression...”
onemoresoop 8y ago
Well, first, almost everything Donald says is a lie or an exaggeration and I doubt he sleeps 4-5 hours a night. Maybe on some nights but only he knows how much he sleeps. Second, I don't know how healthy he is, he seems like his mental faculties have declined drastically over the years. I watched some earlier Donald interviews and he was a lot more articulate and certainly seemed a whole lot more thoughtful, he was bragging less, etc. He totally lost that ability to control himself.
- saturdaysaint 8y ago
  His Twitter timestamps lend some credence to his claims about his sleep. Not that anyone could believe he's doing anything productive in those hours.
  - onemoresoop 8y ago
    That still doesn't tell the whole truth. If I wake up every day at 4 am, how much do i sleep?? Well, you can't tell because you have no information on when I go to sleep.
magic_beans 8y ago
I would not trust anything that man or his person physician claims about him.
nikkwong 8y ago
it may be more accurate to attribute his longevity to his genes, instead of his reportedly rather poor lifestyle habits. his father lived to somewhere in his mid 90's.
- FiveSquared 8y ago
  Due to wealth genetics. More money = better living conditions = less environment negativity

fredley 8y ago

I have the same. I need 7.30 a night, if I get more than that, I have trouble sleeping the next night, and feel terrible the next day. For a long time I was in a cycle of trying to get to bed early because I was so tired, not sleeping well, thoughts bouncing around my head, repeating ad nauseam. I eventually found a course[1] that went through a 'sleep restriction' cycle, essentially limiting the amount of time you're allowed in bed to the actual amount of time you're asleep, according to rough measurements through an app or whatever. For me this started at 5.30 hours. It was dreadful, but each week you spent 90%+ of the time actually in bed asleep, you could give yourself another 15 minutes. Eventually I settled on 7.30 as the amount of time I needed. I now have the occasional bad night, but I don't sweat it, and stick to 7.30 hours in bed each and every night on strict hours. It's transformed my life from the insomnia I had before. 1: https://www.sleepio.com/ https://www.sleepio.com/

akfanta 8y ago

> I’ve always felt fine despite sleeping 5 hours. Tons of people will pay good money to be genetically modified with that ability. You should feel lucky.

gradys 8y ago

This is extremely rare, way more rare than people who merely think they're fine with much less sleep. Given you seem to have spent a lot of time thinking about this, perhaps you've already been to a sleep medicine doctor, but if not, you really should. They'll be able to confirm you're one of the rare individuals who actually won't benefit from more sleep.

turc1656 8y ago

Not sure about the bell curve aspect of sleep, but scientists have discovered a gene that allows a very small portion of the population to be fully rested on about 4 hours of sleep a night. I suppose it's possible that you could have this gene. https://blog.sleepnumber.com/can-4-hours-of-sleep-a-night-be-healthy/ https://blog.sleepnumber.com/can-4-hours-of-sleep-a-night-be... Although it's also possible you have one of the other genes or conditions that alters your sleep needs. But usually that comes with associated side effects. You report feeling fine so not sure what to make of that.

dorchadas 8y ago

> I’ve always felt fine despite sleeping 5 hours This is part of it, I think. In Why we Sleep, Dr. Walker specifically mentions that we often don't realize how sleep deprived we truly are. Given the fact that, if you rounded the percentage of people who have the mutation needed for less sleep, there's an effectively 0% chance of you having it, I'd say that's what's coming into play here.