Welcome back to Just Curious, Strong Women’s weekly series exploring all the random health and fitness questions you’ve always wondered about but never got the answers to.

This week, we’re exploring whether getting too much sleep is just as bad for you as not getting enough.

Alongside diet and exercise, getting enough sleep is one of the most important things you can do for your health. It gives the body time to repair its muscles, organs and other cells, regulates hormones, allows the brain to flush out excess toxins (and therefore protects against diseases like Alzheimer’s), supports the immune system and provides the energy we need to function on a day-to-day basis.

However, it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Just like exercising for hours on end can lead to excessive weight loss, injury and fatigue, getting too much sleep can also have a detrimental effect on your health and wellbeing.

So, how much sleep is too much sleep? And what should you do if you constantly need a lot more sleep than is considered ‘healthy’? To find out more, we spoke to Dr Lindsay Browning, a chartered psychologist, neuroscientist and sleep consultant. 

Getting consistently too little or too much sleep is associated with adverse health outcomes, but there’s no such thing as an exact correct amount of sleep.

“For a working-age adult, the recommendations are to regularly get somewhere between seven and nine hours of sleep,” says Dr Browning. “However, there is no specific number of hours of sleep that someone needs, but rather a recommended range depending on genetics, age and lifestyle. People who get consistently get significantly less than seven hours of sleep or significantly more than nine or 10 hours of sleep tend to have early mortality as well as health issues including an increased risk of depression, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and dementia.”

One thing to note, says Dr Browning, is that it can be difficult to tell whether oversleeping is the root cause of these health issues or a symptom of a pre-existing health issue. All we know is that there is a correlation between the two.  

Oversleeping is often a bit of a ‘chicken or egg’ type problem, as doctors aren’t always sure whether people oversleep because they have a health issue that’s making them fatigued or if it’s the oversleeping that causes or worsens the same health issue.

For example, it’s common for people with depression to sleep more than the average person, but is the depression causing low energy or is the oversleeping causing the depression? It’s a question that experts are keen to get to the bottom of, but what is clear is that oversleeping is an issue that should be addressed where possible.

“Needing much more sleep than the recommended amount is also often a sign that someone’s sleep quality is poor, such as in the case of sleep apnoea,” Dr Browning adds. 

As we’ve already mentioned, chronic oversleeping can put you at risk of a number of health issues and can increase early mortality. Early research suggests that oversleeping can decrease your immune function and increase inflammation.

Your circadian rhythm can also take a hit when you oversleep; the 24-hour body clock is built to respond to cues like light exposure and mealtimes, so when you skip breakfast to sleep in or don’t open your curtains until after midday, your body clock can become disrupted, which can have a knock-on effect on your wellbeing. 

We’ve all had those nights where we’ve gone to sleep without an alarm set and woken up 11 hours later. But is oversleeping on odd occasions like this – for example, when you’ve missed out on sleep or are feeling particularly tired – detrimental for your health?

Probably not, says Dr Browning. “If you have been sleep deprived over a number of days or have had to pull an all-nighter at work, then giving yourself some additional hours of sleep to compensate can be helpful,” she says. “Although you can never fully ‘catch up’ on sleep, allowing yourself the chance to get some additional sleep following sleep deprivation can help to restore your cognitive function and physical health to near normal levels.” 

That being said, if you’re someone who likes to use the weekends to catch up on sleep – and tends to oversleep on these days – it might be worth reconsidering your routine.

“Research consistently shows that getting the right amount of sleep regularly is far healthier than not getting enough sleep during the week and then relying on catch-up sleep,” Dr Browning adds. “Relying on a different sleeping pattern at the weekend can disrupt the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle by causing social jetlag, which happens when somebody gets used to sleeping in late at the weekend and struggles to wake up for work on Monday.” 

If you’re consistently getting 10 hours of sleep every night or wake up feeling exhausted after eight or nine hours of sleep, it’s a good idea to speak to your GP.

One of the most common causes of oversleeping is sleep apnoea, which can cause other issues if left untreated, so it’s important to get a diagnosis. 

And even if sleep apnoea isn’t to blame for your oversleeping, it’s still a good idea to get to the bottom of it. “There are many other potential causes of oversleeping, such as a thyroid issue, an iron deficiency or some other health concern,” Dr Browning says. “It’s important to resolve any underlying health issues so that you can get back to regularly getting the recommended amount of sleep and boosting your mental and physical health.”

If you struggle with oversleeping from time to time – or just want to ensure you wake up feeling energised after seven or eight hours of sleep – here are some easy ways to get started, as recommended by Dr Browning.

1. Seek mental health support

“If you are consistently oversleeping, you may want to look at your mental health,” Dr Browning says. “Depression can sometimes lead to oversleeping, as well as oversleeping exacerbating depression. Speak to someone about your mood if you feel that depression may be causing your oversleeping.”

2. Check if you’ve got SAD and experiment with relevant interventions

“During the winter in the northern hemisphere, the reduction in daylight hours and lower intensity of the sun means many people experience SAD (seasonal affective disorder),” Dr Browning says. SAD can cause daytime sluggishness and fatigue and affect sleep at night. Consider light therapy or other treatments for SAD if you notice that your oversleeping tends to be worse in the winter months.”

3. Try to stick to a consistent sleep schedule

“One of the best ways to avoid oversleeping is to set a consistent sleep schedule,” Dr Browning says. “This means deciding on a regular bedtime and a regular wake time seven days per week. It’s important to get up out of bed when your morning alarm goes off rather than allowing yourself to hit snooze and stay in bed for much longer than you intend.

“By having a consistent sleep schedule you will help your circadian rhythm and should start to feel less sluggish, with less sleep inertia, when you wake up in the morning.”

4. Get more daylight

“Boosting your natural daylight exposure during the day can help you feel more awake and alert during the day and help you feel more sleepy at night,” Dr Browning says. “Going for a walk first thing in the morning can be especially helpful to shift that morning sluggishness because it exposes you to natural daylight that helps to reset your circadian rhythm.” 

Dr Lindsay Browning is speaking at Careys Manor Hotel & SenSpa’s inaugural Wellness Festival on 26 January. More information is available here. 

Images: Getty