Sleep is essential for good physical and mental health, but many Americans don't get enough of it. Even if we know we need more rest, the demands of modern life often get in the way. Between work, school, parenting or late night doom-scrolling, it's easy for sleep to get cut short.
One-third of adults in the United States report that they usually get less than the recommended amount of sleep, which is seven or more hours, . If you regularly sleep five hours a night, you may be wondering about the health consequences. What happens if you only sleep five hours a night? Is five hours of sleep at night enough? What are the long-term effects? We spoke to a few sleep experts to find out.
No, five hours of sleep in a 24-hour period is not enough for the vast majority of adults, according to experts. “Five hours is just too little sleep, especially if you’re doing it routinely," Shelby Harris, Psy.D.
, clinical psychologist specializing in behavioral sleep medicine and director of sleep health at , tells TODAY.com. When it comes to sleep needs, there is no magic number.
Age, genetics and underlying health all play a role. However, if you look at the sleep needs of the adult population, the distribution is shaped like a bell curve, with the majority of people falling in between seven to nine hours. “If you have no external pressures and could go to sleep once you feel drowsy, sleep the amount of time the body needs, then wake up without having to use an alarm, feeling rested .
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