Short Sleepers Aren't Short on Happiness - East Idaho News
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Short Sleepers Aren’t Short on Happiness

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GETTY 082714 sleepinglady?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1409151740377iStock/Thinkstock(SALT LAKE CITY) — Six hours of sleep a night doesn’t sound like a lot, especially when health experts say that adults should get at least seven or eight hours of shuteye to be at their best the next day.

Wishful thinking perhaps, since an estimated 60 million Americans suffer from insomnia.

However, there are people who not only function on a regular six hours of sleep but actually demonstrate no problems at all.

Researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine describe them as “short sleepers. They only make up about .5 percent of the population but those who do don’t suffer from irritability, apathy and drowsiness like other people who complain about a lack of sleep.”

What’s more, researcher Christopher R. Jones, says “short sleepers” are generally happy and outgoing, which he believes might be in their genes. If that’s the case, Jones says that they may help scientists to understand why others suffer from bipolar disorder and even obesity.

Of course, “short sleepers” are born, not made, so Jones strongly advises everyone else to try and get as much sleep as possible.


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