Take The Sleep IQ Test Quiz!

True. Most adults need around eight hours of sleep to function at their best. To determine your sleep need, sleep until you wake on your own...without an alarm clock. Feel alert? That’s your sleep need. You can teach yourself to sleep less, but not to need less sleep.

False. Sleep disorders don’t disappear without treatment. Treatment may be behavioral (for example, going to sleep and waking at the same time every day), pharmacological, surgical or a combination. Untreated sleep disorders may have serious consequences that worsen your health, quality of life, school and work performance, and relationships. Worse, untreated sleep disorders can lead to accidents and death.

False. If you’re sleepy enough, you can fall asleep anywhere. It’s also possible to fall asleep for a few seconds and not even realize it. These “microsleeps” can be dangerous if they happen when you’re driving.

True. Rest is not a substitute for sleep. Sleep is as necessary to health as food and water. When you don’t get the sleep you need, your body builds up a sleep debt. Sooner or later, this debt must be paid... with sleep.

False. Snoring may indicate the presence of a life-threatening sleep disorder called sleep apnea. People with sleep apnea snore loudly and wake up repeatedly during the night, gasping for breath. These repeated awakenings lead to severe daytime sleepiness. Many people with sleep apnea are unaware they have this condition.

False. While your body rests, your brain doesn’t. An active brain during sleep prepares us for alertness and peak functioning the next day.

False. Sleep need remains unchanged throughout adulthood. Older people who sleep less at night tend to sleep more during the day. If poor sleep habits, pain or health conditions make sleeping difficult, a physician can help.

False. Playing a radio, chewing gum, and opening windows are not great ways to keep sleepy drivers alert because their effects are short-lived. If you’re having trouble staying awake while driving, try to pull over at a safe place and take a short nap or have a caffeinated drink. The best solution is to drive after a good night’s sleep.

True. Though many people fail to remember their dreams, dreaming does occur for every person, every night. Dreams are most vivid during REM or rapid eye movement sleep.

True. All living things (people, animals, even plants) have a cirdacian or about 24-hour rhythm. This affects when we feel sleepy and alert. Whether you work the night shift or not, you are most likely to feel sleepy between midnight and 6:00 am. Therefore, a shift worker’s circadian rhythm never adjusts.

False. Sleep disorders have a variety of causes. Sleep apnea, for example, is caused by an obstruction of the airway during sleep. Narcolepsy is characterized by severe daytime sleepiness and sudden sleep attacks, and it appears to be genetic. No one knows yet what causes restless legs syndrome, in which creepy, crawly feelings arise in the legs and are relieved, momentarily, by motion.

False. Sleep loss causes sleepiness. Boredom, like a warm or dark room, merely unmasks it.