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Do You Really Need 8 Hours of Sleep Every Night? | Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter | TED

When you can’t sleep, you’re desperate for help. And there’s a booming industry waiting to tell you all the ways a lack of sleep can ruin your health — and to sell you fancy gadgets to help you finally doze off. Shedding light on this flawed doomsday messaging, Dr. Jen Gunter explains why you shouldn’t…

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When you can’t sleep, you’re desperate for help. And there’s a booming industry waiting to tell you all the ways a lack of sleep can ruin your health — and to sell you fancy gadgets to help you finally doze off. Shedding light on this flawed doomsday messaging, Dr. Jen Gunter explains why you shouldn’t lose sleep over sleep — and what to do instead. (For more on how your body works, tune in to her podcast, Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter, from the TED Audio Collective.)

Think you know how your body works? Think again! In this TED original series, Dr. Jen Gunter will share the truth about what’s *really* going on inside you. For more, tune into her podcast, Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter:

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#TED #health #sleep

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77 Comments

77 Comments

  1. Liz Salander

    November 3, 2022 at 3:19 am

    Yes! 8 hours.

    6 sometimes.

  2. Loki

    November 3, 2022 at 4:09 am

    We need more videos like this that combat the scare tactics that modern news outlets (and even medical sources) use on the internet to generate clicks for ad revenue. This is a huge issue that doesn’t get addressed often and makes things worse when the existence of information should make things better.

  3. Аб дулла

    November 3, 2022 at 4:32 am

    ¾ per 24 hours

  4. Аб дулла

    November 3, 2022 at 4:35 am

    شبه الجزيرة الكورية 🇰🇵: الأمم المتحدة 🇺🇳 تعرب عن قلقها إزاء تصاعد التوترات وتحث على تجديد الجهود الدبلوماسية

    وكانت 🇰🇵 كوريا الشمالية قد أطلقت اليوم سلسلة صواريخ سقط أحدها في البحر قبالة سواحل 🇰🇷 كوريا الجنوبية مما أدى إلى تبادل إطلاق الصواريخ والقذائف

    ─ 🇺🇳 UN News Arabic
    _– أخبار الأمم المتحدة_ 🇺🇳
    ..

  5. Аб дулла

    November 3, 2022 at 4:35 am

    مشروع القرار الروسي 🇷🇺 بشأن مزاعم الأنشطة البيولوجية في 🇺🇦 أوكرانيا لم يمرّ في مجلس الأمن الدولي

    – من اعترض عليه؟
    – من صوت لصالحه؟
    – ومن امتنع؟
    🤔

    ─ 🇺🇳 UN News Arabic
    _– أخبار الأمم المتحدة_ 🇺🇳
    ..

  6. Аб дулла

    November 3, 2022 at 4:36 am

    “شهد هذا العام مقتل أكثر من 70 صحفيا لا لشيء سوى لاضطلاعهم بهذا الدور في المجتمع. ومعظم هذه الجرائم تظل بلا عقاب.”

    -الأمين العام بمناسبة اليوم الدولي لإنهاء الإفلات من العقاب على الجرائم المرتكبة ضد الصحفيين

    ─ 🇺🇳 UN News Arabic
    _– أخبار الأمم المتحدة_ 🇺🇳
    ..

  7. Аб дулла

    November 3, 2022 at 4:36 am

    إثيوبيا 🇪🇹:
    الأمين العام أنطونيو غوتيريش 🇺🇳 يرحب باتفاق السلام الدائم بين الحكومة الإثيوبية وجبهة تحرير تيغراي الشعبية

    ويثني على دور الاتحاد الأفريقي 🌍 و 🇿🇦 جنوب أفريقيا

    ويؤكد أن الأمم المتحدة 🇺🇳 ستواصل حشد المساعدة لتخفيف المعاناة في المناطق المتضررة

    ─ 🇺🇳 UN News Arabic
    _– أخبار الأمم المتحدة_ 🇺🇳
    ..

  8. ✿Shahrezad Nor💜 Mohammadiy

    November 3, 2022 at 4:40 am

    🌺 “Failure is the key to success; each mistake teaches us something.”
    _~ MORIHEI UESHIBA ✍️_

    😊

  9. ✿Shahrezad Nor💜 Mohammadiy

    November 3, 2022 at 4:40 am

    🌺 “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

    _~ MAHATMA GANDHI ✍️_

    😊

  10. Broken Algorithms

    November 3, 2022 at 5:44 am

    I’ve been sleeping 4-6 hours a night for 8 months. It sucks. Everyone once in a while I get a good bights sleep.

  11. MADMASTERMAD

    November 3, 2022 at 6:25 am

    I answered “no” to all of those questions. I was disappointed when the answer was to talk to a doctor as I couldn’t afford health insurance without selling my car. Man, I wish I could fix my sleep.

  12. Takaki Hashimoto

    November 3, 2022 at 8:07 am

    One thing I know is that it must be hard to sleep with these pointy shoulders

  13. Debajit Kumar Das

    November 3, 2022 at 8:14 am

    There are so many things that effect our sleep and also helps in sleep. But, worrying about not getting proper sleep is far worse than staying awake.
    One should be able to find out what perhaps is affecting sleep rather trying hard to get sleep.
    I know many those are perfectly healthy even with 3-5 hours sleep.
    What i noticed is, they all wake up with a fresh feel. That fresh feel is enough to keep them going through the day.
    If even after 7-8 hours sleep one don’t feel fresh that sleep has no meaning.
    The reason what i feel about people coming out fresh with minimum sleep is, they are either accustomed to this lifestyle and never carry mental stress or else, knows when to go for sleep.
    There are a few reasons why we don’t get good sleep. Major among them are:
    1. Less of physical activities
    2. Too much of attachment with gadgets that excites the neuro receptors
    3. Anxiety
    However, one best way to fall asleep without using any medication is practicing deep breathing while lying down at bed time.
    Slow deep inhalation for 4-6 second.
    Holding the breath for another 7-10 second
    Breathing out in another 12-17 second while allowing every part of the body to relax.
    Repeating 3 times is enough.
    There’s no rule about lying down flat.
    One should practice it in a position he/she feels comfortable and the position the person normally prefer to sleep.
    Should be repeated thrice.
    If that doesn’t help than after a few minutes the process can be repeated. A glass of water before the meditation always helps.
    I always found it helpful and suggested to many of my friends those are suffering from insomnia. Quite a number of them came back saying, they found result

  14. Jack game

    November 3, 2022 at 8:19 am

    algorithm choose me

  15. allinone

    November 3, 2022 at 11:43 am

    Dr. Gunter hit the nail on the head – at least for me. Worrying about how much sleep I was getting was causing me anxiety and causing me to lose even more sleep!

  16. vascrip

    November 3, 2022 at 12:15 pm

    With meth and Adderall you don’t need to sleep at all

  17. Dominika

    November 3, 2022 at 2:00 pm

    Yes, I need. If not you don’t want talk to me

  18. OD

    November 3, 2022 at 4:15 pm

    “Everything you think you know might be wrong!”

    Later: “Actually, it was right, you’re just taking it too seriously because you’re an unenlightened civilian. Leave the science-spin to professionals like me and don’t worry your pretty little head.”

  19. Jéssica Santos

    November 3, 2022 at 5:23 pm

    I usually sleep 6 or 5 hours per day. Sometimes 4 hours. I know it’s tiring but i’ve to go to the university and to work everyday, dude.

  20. Ilyasse Aldidi

    November 3, 2022 at 5:28 pm

    The basic questions you should ask yourself are:
    – Do I feel reasonably well-rested during the day?
    – Do I generally sleep through the night without disturbances? or if I wake, do I fall back asleep easily?
    – Can I stay awake through the day without involuntarily falling asleep?

    • Christoffel Hendrickx

      November 3, 2022 at 11:27 pm

      if you fall asleep involuntarily then you have an illness called narcolepsis… no normal person will black out just from a lack of sleep… you ll experience some yawning, light headaches, irritability and lack of focus and energy but no one falls asleep without allowing themselves to nap lol

  21. rehvem

    November 3, 2022 at 6:13 pm

    i am ok with 5:30/6 hrs sleep, i really with fresh and active i dont feel sleepy in the day, but i am just 24 and i sometimes think if i sleep less than whats recommended i may get trouble in my 40s or 50s, so i started to force my self and sleep 7:30/8 hrs, i feel lazy and bored all day my brain is not functioning as it was functioning back then, but i just dont know that if its related to my sleep or something else. if i can be healthy all my life with 5 hrs of sleep (as i feel energized) i would never sleep of 5 minutes more than that.

  22. EntrE01

    November 3, 2022 at 6:15 pm

    This is all fine and dandy, but her remarks are based entirely on the assumption that FEELING that you slept well is the same as HAVING slept well. There is no reason to believe that this is actually the case.

  23. Christoffel Hendrickx

    November 3, 2022 at 11:24 pm

    I hontesly only sleep 8 hours if I’ve skipped the night before… can’t imagine doing that every day, what a waste of time… famous yogis are said to go without sleep after they master actual meditation and anyone with some spiritual practice that doesnt do 12 hr labor days can easily go on 4 to 6 hrs. I do nap here and there but on average I get about 6 hrs in and then I do one night with almost no sleep and then one night with over 8 hrs, just to mix it up… the way you wake yourself is much more important than how much sleep u get…. take time for some deep breathing and focus on yourself when waking and for the first hour of the day and u ll be good…

  24. Funny Shorts

    November 3, 2022 at 11:57 pm

    Im Bout to sleep

  25. Hannu Back

    November 4, 2022 at 12:26 am

    I don’t have trouble sleeping, it’s just that I’m nocturnal and like to sleep until noon at least. If I fall asleep before midnight, it’s just a nap for 2-3 hours and then I’m awake for hours. This wouldn’t be a problem, but sometimes I have to go to work in the morning and that often means only few hours of sleep. At least I have a job that’s often in the evening, so I get to sleep “late”.

    I had a job where I had to wake up in the morning, but I never got used to it although I did it for almost a year. I had trouble with sleep already when I was in school, so it’s not something I can change, but it helps to know that my sleep pattern is like that. For too long I tried to force myself into being a morning person, but all my sleeping problems went away when I just allowed myself to sleep until noon.

  26. Baby

    November 4, 2022 at 2:35 am

    N the military they tell u u only need 4 hrs 😂😂😂

  27. Mattia Cenacchi

    November 4, 2022 at 3:58 am

    first world problems.

  28. Anthony Bell

    November 4, 2022 at 5:39 am

    I’ll probably never know because I get drugged and raped almost every night because the cia refuses to deal with 2 terrorists.

  29. CatHostage

    November 4, 2022 at 6:22 am

    Take a shot every time she says sleep

  30. Mike Aranda

    November 4, 2022 at 6:51 am

    Have kids to get tired for sleep lol

  31. Luvo Mputa

    November 4, 2022 at 7:22 am

    and there is such a thing as too much sleep, if I sleep too much (more than 7-8 hours *for me*) then I feel lethargic.

  32. Kun Music

    November 4, 2022 at 9:28 am

    I can imagine xM views in the future 😂

  33. Jungoo Kookie

    November 4, 2022 at 11:22 am

    My nighttime sleep duration is only 4 hours. If I try to get back to sleep, usually I will experience night terrors, and it makes me feel extremely tired when I wake up. Morning black coffee and 10 mins nap time after lunch sustain my body. Last month I did medical check up and everything’s fine, I’m 27 yo btw.

  34. Raiden Yvelina

    November 4, 2022 at 11:41 am

    i read the title and was like i fucking hope not because i get less sleep than 90% of my peers according to my garmin lol. i will never understand how people can sleep for around the same amount of time, around the same time of day, every day. i dont sleep all night then i get 14 hours, then i get two days with 4 hours, then a normal day, etc. im just used to it now but im a little worried about starting university!

  35. Dilf

    November 4, 2022 at 11:58 am

    Then u get me who didn’t sleep last night at all and have only got about 10hrs of sleep in 3days😂 gotta love exams

  36. HVBR Slice of Life

    November 4, 2022 at 3:08 pm

    It’s not the number of hours you sleep, it’s how long you get REM sleep. As long as you get to deep sleep, you’re getting enough sleep. Also, this video really just left us hanging with what CBT-I was, eh?

    • IH21

      November 5, 2022 at 11:05 am

      felt more like an ad to get her therapy

  37. Gabriele F

    November 4, 2022 at 4:27 pm

    I need them now

  38. Vineet Singh

    November 4, 2022 at 5:03 pm

    I slept watching it… And now I can see the sun shining

  39. For An Angel

    November 5, 2022 at 3:45 am

    Staying up late to watch this video..

  40. cunuc

    November 5, 2022 at 5:19 am

    i never worried about not enough sleep. i am tired all the time so i never had problems falling asleep

  41. Mehdi Al-Momen

    November 5, 2022 at 9:13 am

    This video was a sigh of relief for me cause i have been obsessed with sleep tracking and when to wake up…..
    Cause when i slept for 5 hour i always felt i’m lacking something or i started to say to myself, OMG i didn’t sleep enough. While i was genuinely fine during the night.

  42. yl st

    November 5, 2022 at 9:35 am

    I think this video has misleading content. Here is why : I have mild mitral valve prolapse , if I sleep less than 8 hours , I felt all bad symptoms about my disease in daily life. I think I’m an example of why you should sleep 8 hours a day. You may not feel the same if you sleep less but I’m sure somehow it did harm to you too. I’m just weak enough to see it clearly.

  43. Happiness Frequency - Reprise

    November 5, 2022 at 11:17 am

    No. I was fine on 6-6.5 hrs/night for decades. It wasn’t until I consistently dropped under 5.5 that I became sick (for a long time)

  44. yong chen

    November 5, 2022 at 12:29 pm

    8 hours needed most people get 6 hours life get in the way meaning have to work that life

  45. IriSka

    November 5, 2022 at 5:27 pm

    Matthew Walker has more arguments on that topic. And I believe him, not this lady

  46. nightman

    November 5, 2022 at 8:05 pm

    Sleeping 4 hours and slowly loosing memory in my early forties. My eyes burn the whole day…. This lady probably sleeps well.

  47. x Zuka x

    November 5, 2022 at 9:55 pm

    In fact I don’t need 8 hours of sleep, but 10.

  48. Occam's Hammer

    November 6, 2022 at 1:05 am

    Beware social engineers trying to persuade you that you can sleep less (and work more.) Ask yourself why they might be manipulating you.

  49. Eslam Abdelraouf

    November 6, 2022 at 2:39 am

    Great video.

  50. Eslam Abdelraouf

    November 6, 2022 at 2:39 am

    Great video.

  51. Axel Daguerre

    November 6, 2022 at 6:27 am

    No trouble sleeper here:
    – Don’t think about it
    – Ritual are indeed great (I have audio of a series in my country, I listen ALL nights)
    – If you get less sleep hours (id est 6h). Just be it, the night you must feel tired sooner. But keep same start bed hour.
    – I use my bedroom for sleep only.
    – Sport can greatly help. I remember after my rugby training being more tired than I am now.
    Sleep watched are not useful IMO. They are clunky, it’s just advertising, no science today can say for sure what you need, so why bother ?
    Sadly it’s hard for me to understand why people have hard time to sleep, I understand lot do, just recently.
    Maybe I am lucky for sure, but I do think my lifestyle does a lot since I am a child (lot of sport but a lot of video games / programming too). Good luck everyone, find YOUR triggers.
    I read here people talking about sleep quality, same, science gives you no clue today about it. If you feel great DURING THE DAY, your sleep quality is enough IMO. Sport give you some clue too, if you can’t perform like usual sleep may not be perfect.

  52. Samuel Zev

    November 6, 2022 at 9:59 am

    Sleep problems are prevalent these days because we live in a culture that glorifies the night life and if you’re working or studying such sleep problems are glorified and considered a badge of honor that signifies hard work but it really signifies poor health.

  53. Samuel Zev

    November 6, 2022 at 9:59 am

    Sleep problems are prevalent these days because we live in a culture that glorifies the night life and if you’re working or studying such sleep problems are glorified and considered a badge of honor that signifies hard work but it really signifies poor health.

  54. Shohem S

    November 6, 2022 at 4:22 pm

    Ted, you guys literally have a video up on the same channel, viewed millions of times that explains how even one night of 4 hours sleep ruins your cardiovascular system. Which one really is your opinion? Get your message straight. I will sleep long until then.

  55. Shohem S

    November 6, 2022 at 4:22 pm

    Ted, you guys literally have a video up on the same channel, viewed millions of times that explains how even one night of 4 hours sleep ruins your cardiovascular system. Which one really is your opinion? Get your message straight. I will sleep long until then.

  56. Manas Kulkarni

    November 6, 2022 at 6:52 pm

    In so many years, I’ve still not got a perfect answer to how much sleep I require!! Even on this same channel, there are numerous TED-Talks, everyone giving different opinions on sleep, and in many cases completely contradicting each other

    • Selim Özcan

      November 7, 2022 at 5:21 pm

      True

  57. JiminTae

    November 6, 2022 at 7:01 pm

    ♥️

  58. JiminTae

    November 6, 2022 at 7:01 pm

    ♥️

  59. schizo noise

    November 6, 2022 at 7:12 pm

    My time – 5-6 hours max…. 8 hours impossible

  60. schizo noise

    November 6, 2022 at 7:12 pm

    My time – 5-6 hours max…. 8 hours impossible

  61. Luz Montalvo

    November 7, 2022 at 1:00 am

    Yes, wr ought it to our bodies, 8 hrs sleep is great so one works less but rest more, 😂 HEALTHY.

  62. Danial Craig

    November 7, 2022 at 1:22 am

    Thanks

  63. CodeName Slicer

    November 7, 2022 at 2:14 am

    I could listen to her talk for hours. So engaging.

  64. Marwan Tawachi

    November 7, 2022 at 7:04 am

    I think she may be having sleep issues, as well. It looks like she forgot to take the hanger out of her suit before she put it on. It’s easier to do than you’d think, once you’ve been up for a few days. Believe me. I’ve done it too.

  65. Pardon My Grammar

    November 7, 2022 at 10:54 am

    After a medium-to super intense day: 7 hours are minimal need. Low intensity-day 6 hours might do.

  66. ice block

    November 7, 2022 at 11:13 am

    I don’t sleep.

  67. あんぱん2

    November 7, 2022 at 1:46 pm

    Yes. No questions.

  68. Doppelkammertoaster

    November 7, 2022 at 3:45 pm

    For the statement that generalisations are problematic this video generalizes? According to Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker and other sleep scientists and studies it’s not that easy. And the amount of people that can work with 6h is so insigificantly small that we still don’t have a study looking at the effects it has on them, positive or negative. Saying ‘some can get by with 6h’ is simply wrong. MOST, almost everyone, can’t. Everyone is different, that is true, but the video does not touches the most common and problematic habits of our society regarding sleep.

    For example, and for some odd reason totally missed here: coffeine. Drink less or none of it.

  69. progamerali777

    November 7, 2022 at 4:51 pm

    When I was between the ages 13-16 years old I only slept for 5 hours now I’m 17 and I am in the begin stadium of alzheimer 😢😢😢😢

  70. Meanie Weeny

    November 7, 2022 at 5:19 pm

    Dr.Jen straight outta wonderland

  71. BloodShift

    November 7, 2022 at 6:35 pm

    I love this series

  72. Lusmary Marquez

    November 8, 2022 at 12:44 am

    I only come for here because I need improve my english.

  73. Ben Heim

    November 8, 2022 at 12:49 am

    Very helpful video! Orthosomnia well describes my troubles.

  74. Rein Benedict Siu

    November 8, 2022 at 1:12 am

    School: nope

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