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Did you know resting has a gender gap?
Yep ― per the Office of National Statistics, men enjoy five hours more leisure time a week than women.
People may also perceive women’s fatigue less than they do men’s, a study from NASA recently found.
That’s despite the fact that, on average, women report more fatigue than men do.
So I don’t rejoice in what I’m about to tell you, but: it turns out women, on average, need more sleep than men do to begin with.
Why do women need more sleep, and by how much?
According to the Sleep Foundation, some of the changes are hormonal – menstruation, menopause, and of course, pregnancy can all affect your kip.
And while obstructive sleep apnoea, which makes breathing in your sleep more laboured and can leave you exhausted in the day, is usually higher for men, as much as 67% of post-menopausal women develop it after the change.
Additionally, women are 40% more likely to have insomnia than men, and are also likelier to have anxiety and depression (which have also been linked to poor sleep).
Plus, remember that leisure gap we talked about earlier? Well, research suggests that not only may the associated stress of taking care of a household take its toll on your Zzzs, but the physical tasks associated with it (checking in on a sick child, for instance) have an effect too.
No wonder a 2013 paper found that, on average, women sleep for 11 minutes more per night than men.
Speaking to Piedmont Healthcare, sleep specialist Dr Nagamalar Raju put it a little higher. They said: “Women are… multi-taskers, and they do a lot at once. Because they use more of their actual brain, they may need a little bit more sleep than men.”
The doctor added, “It is still debatable, but some experts say that women need twenty more minutes on average than men usually need.”
How can I tell if I’m getting enough sleep?
You might know that the eight hours myth is just that ― our sleep demands change from person to person, and differ as we age too.
So even if you don’t meet the NHS-recommended 7-9 hours sleep per night, you may feel rested enough to go about your day.
If not, though, sleep disorder specialist Dr Michelle Drerup told the Cleveland Clinic: “The best time to judge whether you got enough sleep isn’t typically right after waking.”
She advises: “Instead, assess how you feel later in the morning. How is your energy level? Can you stay focused and do everything you need to do?”
The NHS advises seeing a GP if:
- changing your sleeping habits has not helped your insomnia
- you’ve had trouble sleeping for months
- your insomnia is affecting your daily life in a way that makes it hard for you to cope.
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