Spending excessive time in bed may be a sign of an underlying medical condition, such as depression. Depression is a mood disorder that has many symptoms, including decreased interest in activities or other people, weight changes, trouble sleeping, and fatigue.
The side effects of staying in bed all day include development of bedsores and body aches, especially in the lower back. Lying in bed all day is also associated with an increased risk of stress and depression, and some other psychological and cardiovascular ailments.
The constant pressure blocks blood flow, killing your skin cells. And if you're not careful, they could even rip through layers of skin and tissue and expose your bones and muscles, which sounds like the opposite of relaxing. Meanwhile, those muscles are wasting away faster than ever.
Possible underlying reasons include depression and anxiety. Depression is linked to dysania, a nonmedical term for when a person feels the need to stay in bed without sleeping. A wide range of physical conditions can also lead to fatigue, making it hard to get up. They include ME/CFS and long COVID.
When you sleep too much, you're throwing off that biological clock, and it starts telling the cells a different story than what they're actually experiencing, inducing a sense of fatigue. You might be crawling out of bed at 11am, but your cells started using their energy cycle at seven.
But is taking a quick rest - closing your eyes, putting your feet up and clearing your mind for a couple of minutes - as beneficial as getting some sleep? The concise answer is 'no'. There are numerous claims relating to the benefits of rest to mind and body. However, nothing compares to the benefit of sleep.
The inability to get out of bed is a common symptom of someone suffering from a mental health disorder or substance use disorder. Often people who struggle with depression, anxiety, or any type of substance abuse may find it challenging to face the day each morning by getting out of bed.
The position, also known as 'active rest' is the best way to restore and reconnect the body and mind; a little like the reset button on a computer. As well as realigning the spine, it stops you feeling overwhelmed, allowing you to focus on yourself and providing vital time out to quieten the mind and process emotions.
How Much Sleep Is Too Much? Sleep needs can vary from person to person, but in general, experts recommend that healthy adults get an average of 7 to 9 hours per night of shuteye. If you regularly need more than 8 or 9 hours of sleep per night to feel rested, it might be a sign of an underlying problem, Polotsky says.
Increased fatigue and low energy. Decrease in immune function. Changes in stress response. Increased risk of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
Either way, your brain sees it as sleep. The most common time of the day when people get sleepy is between 2 and 3 in the afternoon, when we experience a natural dip in energy, he says. This may prevent you from feeling tired at bedtime; then, spending too much time lying awake can contribute to insomnia.
Laying on your back for long periods can cause the muscles that support the normal curvature of your back to become fatigued. When you wake up with muscle fatigue, you will experience tight muscles and back pain.
It can be the most comfortable you've been all night and now you have to get up – how unfair. This extra cosy feeling can be caused by melatonin, the sleep hormone, which is still being pumped around your body when you've just woken up.
"As soon as you wake up after a night of sleep, you should get out of bed. If you lie awake in bed, your brain links being awake to being in bed," according to Professor Matthew Walker from University of California Berkeley.
Conclusion. Resting your eyes is a good way to relax your body and replenish your eyes before it needs to take on more tasks, but it is in no way a substitute for sleep. Your body needs the replenishing benefits of sleep to function properly and restore itself.
Specifically, sleeping on the side or back is considered more beneficial than sleeping on the stomach. In either of these sleep positions, it's easier to keep your spine supported and balanced, which relieves pressure on the spinal tissues and enables your muscles to relax and recover.
Some people are able to function on only 3 hours very well and actually perform better after sleeping in bursts. Though many experts do still recommend a minimum of 6 hours a night, with 8 being preferable.
“There is no such thing as a “fixed or ideal time” to go to bed which will suit all individuals. It is generally advisable to fall asleep between 10 pm to midnight as for most people this is when the circadian rhythm is at a point that favours falling asleep.”
What time should I go to bed if I wake up at 6am? If you wake up at 6am, to get 7-9 hours of sleep you should be going to bed between 9pm and 11pm.