, Columnist
Americans Are Starved for Sleep
We’re all paying a price, but we’re so exhausted it’s hard for us to tell.
Just five more minutes? Please?
Photographer: Jeff Pachoud/AFP, via Getty Images
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Americans associate sleep with laziness, but sleep experts say it’s impossible for healthy people to overindulge in sleep. Some people may crave more food than they need, but only people who are physically or mentally ill crave more sleep than necessary. And we humans need a lot.
Some people like to say they’ll sleep when they die, but study after study shows that sleeping too little will make you half dead when you’re awake — less able to learn, perform, remember, react quickly or make good decisions.