Sleep: Here’s What Happens When You Sleep Too Much And You’re Not Going To Like It

Written by Shivani K  • 

Isn’t it a little hard to believe that there’s something called sleeping too much when most of us struggle to get barely enough sleep? But, hey, it’s true, there is a chance that you can overdo your sleep and it can lead to certain problems as well. While it’s extremely tough for anybody to pinpoint as to what’s the “right amount” of sleep; most of us need around seven to nine hours of sleep (1).

Sleep is more of like our pesky ex, isn’t it? It comes into your life when you don’t want it. And when you are missing it, it’s nowhere near you! We know, peeps, that canceling plans and falling asleep while “Netflix-and-chill”-ing seems to be every other millennial’s favorite thing to do. The question is “Is it healthy?” and the answer is obviously a big “no.” While we’ve all heard the harmful effects of not sleeping enough, we’re here to tell you about what happens to us when we oversleep. Let’s go through it together.

1. It Leads To Weight Gain

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You may be hitting the gym for at least an hour every single day and counting your calorie intake. But, if you’ve been sleeping for more than nine hours every day, you’ll soon notice that the numbers on the weighing scale will only increase. Studies have proved that people who sleep more than nine hours in a day are 25 percent more likely to gain weight, in spite of engaging in physical activity and watching the food intake (2).

2. It Makes Way To Depressive Disorders

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Depressive disorder and sleep disorder is somehow connected. It’s a vicious circle, because sleeping for long can increase fatigue in one’s body, thereby causing despair. You end up sleeping a lot, choosing to not leave your bed. Over time nothing in life excites you, negative thoughts dig deeper in your head, and you fall prey to depression.

3. It Can Increase The Risk Of Heart Disease

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If you’re thinking that sleeping too much leads to merely loss of precious hours of the day, you’re wrong! It also takes a toll on the most important organ in our body, our heart! Check any death records and you’ll know that a large percentage of deaths in the present time are caused because of heart problems. And, studies say that sleeping too much increases your risk of contracting heart problems by 30 percent (2). So, remember that there’s a close relation between excessive sleep and heart disease.

4. It Can Lower The Chances Of Pregnancy Among Women

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Yep, sleep disorders can also take a toll on fertility health among women. Studies have proven time and again that there’s a strong connection between how much one sleeps and infertility. They found that pregnancy rates were found to be higher among women who slept well for 7-8 hours than those who slept for more than 9 hours (3).

5. It Can Hurt Your Brain

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Sleeping too much takes a toll on the proper functioning of the brain. A study has explained that sleeping for long hours affects our brain negatively(4). Sleeping for way too long impairs the cognitive abilities of the brain. The brain fails to recall and remember things when you’ve slept for a long duration of time. And, it is said that the condition of the brain worsens when one tends to wake up in the middle of the night and goes back to sleep, only to wake up pretty late. Oversleeping ages your brain and you begin to have problems in performing simple everyday tasks as well.

6. It Can Give Birth To Chronic Headaches And Other Pains

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While most of us talk that lack of sleep can cause headaches, studies have proved to oversleeping also can lead to migraines (5). If you oversleep regularly, you are more likely to wake up with migraines which are persistent. This is the case, because excessive sleep affects the neurotransmitters present in the brain and also causes an imbalance in the levels of serotonin (6).

7. Insomnia

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Sounds very surprising, right? But it’s true. If you are habituated to sitting in front of a TV or a computer for extended duration in a day, you are likely to end up oversleeping, due to the strain your eyes have gone through. There are chances that you’ll be sleepless for the days to come. Basically oversleeping messes up the body clock, because of which, you are likely to fall prey to insomnia.

How Can One Sleep Less (And Better)?

Follow these simple sleep rules:

  • Eat right and healthy
  • Reduce alcohol consumption
  • Exercise regularly
  • If you wake up, don’t go back to sleeping again
  • Don’t consume excessive caffeinated drinks

So, how many hours do you sleep? Have you faced any problems because of oversleeping? Let us know in the comments section below.

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