Sleeping More Than 8 Hours a Day? 5 Dangerous Side Effects of Oversleeping You Didn’t Know About

Do you love to sleep in? The alarm goes off, but you just can’t bring yourself to jump up the bed to greet the new day, so you snuggle in for another hour or two. Doing that every sometimes may not be all that bad, but if you are sleeping way too much, the harm could far outweigh the benefits. So if you are lacking energy even after ten hours of sleep, it can be a major sign that something is seriously amiss. The negative effects of getting too little sleep are well-documented but what happens when you sleep too much?

1. Depression

Oversleeping is a potential symptom of depression but if you flip the coin, long sleeping hours can also lead to persistent depression and anxiety. A study published in the Journal Sleep found that those who slept more than ten hours in a day reported signs of depression and anxiety than people who got just enough sleep. Irregularities in the body’s sleep clock may also contribute to symptoms of depression. So even if you get a chance after a long working week, ditch that 12 hours of sleep over the weekend.

2. Back Pain and Tension Headache

It may not be a good idea to spend too much time in bed when you are suffering from back pain. While it is imperative to rest when you are in pain, sometimes sleeping for too long can aggravate your pain. In fact, your back pain can worsen when you do too little activity and spend too much time in bed. Sometimes sleeping in the wrong position or using an unsupportive mattress can also trigger your pain. Oversleeping can also trigger headaches. Referred to as weekend headache, sleeping in can trigger tension and migraine headaches.

3. Weight Gain

Like how inadequate sleep can lead to weight gain, in the same way, oversleeping can also show on your waistline. Weight gain is another chicken-or-egg factor associated with long hours of sleep. It is pretty obvious that if you are spending more amount of time in bed and not exercising or even moving around, you are burning fewer calories.  Here are 6 weird ways to help you fall asleep.

4. Diabetes

Sleep can affect your blood glucose levels regardless of your weight. Again, when you oversleep, you exercise less and physical activity is an important factor in enabling your body to utilise the glucose present for muscles instead of having it overflow into the blood. So instead of sleeping for that long, wake up and get moving.  How to go to bed on time; late sleepers can advance sleep time by 2 hours with this trick.

5. Cardiovascular Disease

One concerning problem linked to long hours of sleep is cardiovascular diseases. When you sleep too much, you tend to exercise less. This can increase the strain on the heart so even simple tasks become hard. The heart has to work harder to keep you going, and this can increase your risk of a heart attack. It certainly pays to keep yourself fit, and perhaps instead of sleeping in, you would benefit from a good exercise regime in the mornings.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 16, 2019 08:37 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).