There are so many sleep myths, tales about bedtimes and misinformation about sleep that goes around around, especially on social media. It can be difficult to get accurate information and helpful advice.
In this blog, Dr Lindsay Browning thought it would be a good idea to discuss some common myths and share her knowledge to ‘set the record straight’.
10 sleep ‘myths’ – true or false?
Teenagers need more sleep than anyone else
False.
The recommendations are that a teenager (aged 13 to 17) should get somewhere between 8 to 10 hours of sleep every day, and for 18 and 19 year olds, it’s more like 7 to 9 hours.
Teenagers are often perceived as lazy or needing loads of sleep because they will often sleep-in at the weekend until late and may struggle to wake up in time for school. However, this is often not because they need obscene amounts of sleep, but rather that they go to bed too late, meaning they need to sleep-in to get the recommended amount of sleep.
Teenagers wanting to go to bed late and wake up late is associated with a circadian change around that age. Learn more about age and sleep here:
Adults dream less than children
Unclear.
REM sleep (rapid eye movement) is the part of sleep when we are most likely to be vividly dreaming. According to a 20214 review, babies and children tend to spend more time in REM sleep than adults, therefore, it is likely that children may dream more than adults.
However, young children do not tend to report dreaming as frequently as adults. Also, their eye movement frequency during REM sleep is not as high as in adults, suggesting that their dreams may not be as intense.
As we do not remember all the dreams that we have every night, and adults may be better at dream recall than very young children, it may be the case that adults report more dreams than children, but not necessarily that they actually have more dreams.
You can die from sleep deprivation
Unproven.
It’s very difficult to know if this is true, because you can’t conduct an experiment ethically!
If someone is severely sleep deprived, they may start to have microsleeps and not even realise they have slept. There is an extremely rare condition called fatal familial insomnia in which people lose the ability to sleep and do eventually die. Although a lack of sleep in this disorder (and in the very name of the disorder) is associated with death, it’s not clear whether the sleep deprivation caused death or whether the disorder caused brain abnormalities leading to death.
However, what is important to note is that not getting enough sleep over time is certainly associated with a host of health issues and is linked to early mortality.
You should never wake a sleep-walker
False.
When someone is sleepwalking, they will often be in deep sleep. It is not dangerous to wake a sleepwalker, but it is unnecessary.
If someone is sleepwalking, then the best thing to do is to gently encourage them back into bed.
You always speak the truth when you sleep-talk
False.
Sleep talking can happen in non-REM or REM sleep. Around half of sleep talking according to this 2017 article tends to be unintelligible such as groans or mumbles.
When someone is sleep talking understandable words, the most common word is “no”, but what they are referring to is very hard to know..even if you asked a question. Also remember just as dreams are not always true or reflect something a person has ever experienced, people do not always speak the truth when they sleep talk.
You move 13 times every hour in your sleep
Unclear.
It is normal to move slightly during sleep, from small twitches to occasional major body movements, but I don’t think we can put a specific figure on it.
If someone has major body movements frequently during the night this will likely wake them repeatedly and disrupt their sleep quality. It may be a sign than there is a problem, such as Periodic Limb Movement disorder which is identified where a child has 5 or more, or an adult has 15 or more limb movements per hour.
The figure of “moving 13 times every hour” also depends on the definition of moving – does this include small twitches? It is certainly normal for people to briefly wake or move slightly between sleep cycles, but repeated awakenings and significant moving within their sleep cycles may indicate another issue and is not what is expected.
You should never sleep with a light on
True.
We sleep better in the dark, because light can affect melatonin production and light sources can interfere with sleep.
Even with our eyes closed, we can still sense light through our closed eyelids. Therefore, it’s a good idea to sleep in as much darkness, as possible.
Men sleep better than women
True.
Women are 1.5-2 times more likely to report insomnia compared to men. This difference may be due to increased caring responsibilities in many women or due to hormonal fluctuations found in women during menopause, pregnancy and menstruation.
The hours before midnight count for more than the hours after midnight
Not strictly true.
People who go to bed before midnight tend to get more sleep than those who go to bed after midnight because everyone tends to have to wake up at the same time in the morning for work or children, for example.
Therefore, if you go to bed earlier, you’ll get more sleep!
Also, it is better for our sleep and health if we go to bed at a similar time every night and wake up at a consistent time each morning. It is the consistency of when we sleep and the total length of time asleep that is generally more important than whether it was “before” or “after” midnight.
High earners sleep better than low earners
True.
Socioeconomic status is strongly associated with sleeping issues as discussed in this 2019 article.
High earners and more highly educated people tend to have longer sleep durations (as seen in this report around Sleep Health). Also shift workers tend to have significantly less sleep then 9 to 5 workers.
Evidence-based support for your sleep
If you are looking for evidence-based advice about sleep, as well as helpful guidance on how to improve the quality and quantity of the sleep for you, as well as loved ones, then do take a look at my book:
It’s packed with easy-to-implement advice, as well as foundational information to help you understand the importance of sleep for your health, wellbeing and more.