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Can somebody be addicted to sleep?

Discussion in 'Other Substances' started by rainbowguard, Jan 15, 2015.

  1. jeremy2

    jeremy2 Community Champion

    Sleeping is an activity controlled by the brain. When the body gets tired, the brain signals the body it's time to have some rest or sleep. I don't think sleeping could become an addiction per say but as a result of some conditions like sleeping sickness or having too much physical activity.
  2. Matthodge1

    Matthodge1 Community Champion

    If you can be addicted to sleep, then I want to be an addict haha. No but I really am not positive if that could be considered an addiction or not because it is something that every human being needs to function.
  3. Brady2121

    Brady2121 Active Contributor

    I've never heard of such an addiction, however, too much sleep can be a problem. Most people who sleep too much are usually just plain lazy.
  4. Zyni

    Zyni Community Champion

    I don't know if it is technically considered an addiction, but when it interferes with his day, it could be similar. Some people do sleep all the time as an escape or a way to avoid things. If it wasn't a health issue maybe there was some other problem. It is rather strange.
  5. kjonesm1

    kjonesm1 Community Champion

    I think that sounds like depression. I used to have a girlfriend who used to sleep like that and we discovered she was going through depression. Is your roommate happy? Is sleep a way to escape for him?
  6. RingoBerry

    RingoBerry Senior Contributor

    I don't think that sleeping is an addiction either about your friend being lethargic or just plain lazy. But yea, who doesn't love to sleep? Although sleep does a lot of good to the body, it can also cause a lot of harm if done too much.

    That is just two from the list of possible harm that oversleeping can cause a person. Do check it out and explain to your friend. Its best that he's aware of them now than later on when he's already feeling something.

    Link: WebMD
    Physical side effects of oversleeping
  7. Waynefire

    Waynefire Member

    Sleep is a great thing, but my father in law has a saying that people die in bed. I have to admit this is true. However, addiction to sleep is usually caused by an underlying medical condition such as narcolepsy.
  8. OhioTom76

    OhioTom76 Senior Contributor

    I would guess depression as well. Though there are other things that could make you sleep a lot - I had Mono and slept through entire days, and that went on for nearly two weeks. Also, when I quit doing cocaine, after using it heavily for several years, the months following my last use of it, I was sleeping like crazy. As soon as I would get home from work, I would grab a bite to eat then lay down for a "nap" but would end up sleeping all the way until the following morning.

    A friend of mine was similar to what you were describing, and would sleep all the time. He was always really moody though and depressed, and he's actually on disability now because of it (I believe he's severely bipolar, from what I recall someone else telling me). The one time in particular, I had driven 4 hours to visit him and his partner and we had plans to go to a local parade and take part in all the festivities. But when that day arrived, him and his boyfriend would not get out of bed the whole day, and slept through the parade. I was in an awkward position because it's their house and I'm a guest, so I ended up having to go to the parade myself and catch up with them later - and even then, they were still acting like they couldn't wait to get back home and jump back in bed.
  9. HugsNotDrugs

    HugsNotDrugs Active Contributor

    It sounds like narcolepsy to me. People usually picture someone passing out mid-sentence when they hear narcolepsy, but that's only one kind and there are others. I have a friend who is narcoleptic and for her, it's that every time she goes to sleep she could just keep sleeping for like 18 hours straight. It's not that she feels tired, it's just that she always feels like she just needs another hour or two... repeatedly.

    This sounds exactly like her. She loooved sleep. She's now on narcolepsy drugs though and can get by on 8-9 hours a night (but she DOES need a full 8-9 hours still).
  10. Lizel

    Lizel Community Champion

    No, never. It would be weird to be addicted to sleep, because you can't make yourself sleep all day and all night long.
  11. 6up

    6up Community Champion

    That is laziness, normally nobody has got enough time to sleep, that is why we have got alarms in most devices. By having much time to sleep, we avoid doing many projects that can make us money. We need food, clothes, new trending devices and all new things. Who is going to give you all that if you can not work hard. Nobody will be happy to be waking you up at meal hours.
  12. Rex

    Rex Community Champion

    Sleeping a lot in my opinion is a form of depression, or at least it can be.
    I used to sleep in the middle of the day just because i didnt want to be awake. Ive found that having interests and stuff to do is the best remedy. Sleeping can be a form of addiction to a degree i think.

    There is of course much worse addictions but its not good for you either. Get up early and go to bed early , thats my motto.
  13. dyanmarie25

    dyanmarie25 Community Champion

    I also had a classmate in college who slept too much. He even slept during classes which made the professors cringe in anger whenever they spot him dozing off. In his case, I don't think it's an addiction. I think he's just a lazy ass.
  14. Damien Lee

    Damien Lee Community Champion

    I think that it's just plain old laziness. A person that doesn't have a purpose and goals in life, will likely spend his or her time dozing away. Perhaps your roommate didn't care about his studies. College may have not been the right place for him. If he followed a career path that stirred his spirits up and got him excited, he would sleep less.
    Rainman likes this.
  15. Jasmine2015

    Jasmine2015 Community Champion

    Having a sleep addiction? I don't know about that. But what I do know is that sometimes physical or emotional problems could get in the way and mess with your sleep patterns. Either you sleep too much or you don't sleep enough. I would have to be physically tired to go to bed otherwise I'll just sit there for a little while in bed.
  16. Tsky45

    Tsky45 Community Champion

    It can be an addiction If you get used to it. Once you get to the point where you over sleep all the time it becomes a habit. I used to sleep a lot myself, but broke out of that habit with productive activity. This kind of habit can interfere with business as well. I'm not surprised that over sleeping interfered with your friends classes.
  17. vegito12

    vegito12 Community Champion

    I think it can happen as a person may like to sleep more than they need to and also try feel like they are in a dream world and not want to wake up from it and we need to have the right amount of sleep, to function each day or we will feel tired. In the weekend it can be easy to sleep in longer or on a rainy day as it is cold and you feel like staying in the bed under the blankets longer, and reckon we need to have around 8 hours for an adult and need to not eat late at night as that can affect the body. I think that we need to sleep around 9 or 10 pm at night to get a good amount of rest and also this can give the body the right amount rest, we need to function in the day and feel refreshed in the process.
  18. ReadmeByAmy

    ReadmeByAmy Community Champion

    Your friend is sleeping for 12 hours a day? He is sleeping beyond the required amount of sleep that a person should have. How I wish I can also sleep for long hours like your friend because a complete hours of sleep is really important to our body but it should be in the right number of hours only. But I think it is not a form of addiction but its the reaction of our body to our daily activities and routines in life that affects the way how we sleep.
  19. doatk22

    doatk22 Community Champion

    In a way. It's just something people use to mask reality. I used to sleep a whole lot when I was in my teens when I was struggling with sadness. I didn't want to deal with reality so I'd sleep the day away.
  20. xTinx

    xTinx Community Champion

    That's not addiction. From the looks of it, your friend seems to be suffering from a serious illness. That could be narcolepsy (a disorder that causes a person to sleep involuntarily especially in a calm and quiet place). I hope he's gone to the doctor for checkup. It's not an ailment you can just brush off. Something has to be done for it'll affect the quality of his life.