Long Naps: Helpful or Harmful?

Do you ever feel so drained in the afternoon that you consider laying down for a long nap?

For children, naps are necessary for a good day.

For adults, too much can be a good thing.

Are long naps hurting or helping you?

It isn’t that naps are a bad thing for adults.

On the contrary, adequate rest is essential for good health.

There is, however, a sweet spot and timing is the key.

📎Benefits of Naps
📎 Impact on Drowsy Drivers
📎 Nap and Recommended Daily Sleep Totals
📎 The Right Nap at the Right Time
📎 Signs You are Napping Too Long
📎 How to Take a Healthy Longer Nap?
📎Can Naps Help with Sleep Deprivation?

A nap is a brief period of sleep that is usually taken during the day.

Naps are taken by nearly one-third of all adults in the United States.

Whether a shift worker, an athlete, or a truck driver, naps are part of their daily routine.

But how much time should you spend napping?

A short, well-timed nap is beneficial.

Regular naps in the middle of the day improve alertness, reduce anxiety, and boost energy.
A good nap can also give you the same benefits as an afternoon cup of coffee or energy drink without the caffeine stimulation.

Missing a nap will not result in a caffeine withdrawal headache, either.

Naps boost energy in the entire body and not just the brain.

Doctors sometimes recommend or even prescribe naps for different health conditions.

Shift workers and long-haul truck drivers can benefit from regular power naps to improve their difficult sleep schedules.

Other nap benefits include:

Healthy Tips: Naps may be regarded as the quickest way to recover from a foggy-brain caused by a lack of sleep the night before.

It is still recommended that you get enough sleep. According to sleep experts, a healthy adult should get at least 7-9 hours of sleep per night.

Taking a brief nap while driving long distances can be crucial to accident prevention.

Driving while drowsy is an epidemic.

Too many drivers get behind the wheel without adequate sleep.

Drowsy driving endangers everyone else on the road.

One in six fatal car crashes involved a drowsy driver, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

One in eight wrecks that required hospitalization for at least one person and one in fourteen crashes where at least one vehicle had to be towed also involved drowsy drivers.

Even more eye-opening are the results of a 2002 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study that revealed more than a quarter of drivers reported having driven while so sleepy they could barely keep their eyes open.

More than one-third of responders to the study admitted to having nodded off while driving at some point in their lives.

To combat drowsy driving, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety suggests only driving after getting at least six hours of sleep.

A short nap, between 20 and 30 minutes, is also suggested to remain alert.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends at least seven hours of sleep per night for adults.

Yet the CDC also reports that a third of American adults sleep less than the minimum recommended hours of sleep daily.

It sounds like taking a long nap during the day would be a good thing, right?

Not so fast, according to the Mayo Clinic. The Mayo Clinic reports that long naps can interfere with the nighttime sleep cycle and even cause insomnia.

When we fall into a deep sleep, our body transitions through a four-stage sleep cycle that typically lasts around 90 minutes.

As the body sinks into a deep sleep, certain chemicals are released into the bloodstream.

These chemicals enable the body to remain drowsy and stay asleep for the entire night.

Overnight, the brain moves through the various sleep cycles several times before awakening the following morning.

A good nap remains a lighter sleep where the brain moves through the first or second sleep stages without going into a deeper sleep.

Ideally, a nap is a lighter sleep.

In short, naps are not the same type of sleep as regular nighttime sleep.

Falling into that deep sleep cycle during the day can upset your regular nightly routine.

Should I take naps during the day?

A nap in the middle of the afternoon that lasts between 15 to 30 minutes is ideal.

A nap taken too late in the day can affect your nighttime sleep cycle and leave you more tired the following day.

A longer nap will leave you feeling more tired and groggy when you wake up.

Choose a quiet place with few distractions.

Nap time that is constantly interrupted by your phone or coworkers will do nothing to improve your day.

It is a good idea to nap around the same time every day so that your body becomes accustomed to the routine.

Be sure to end your nap with a brief time to wake up and stretch before resuming daily activities.

Healthy Tips:

You decide to incorporate a nap into your daily routine.

One afternoon you close the shades to your office, dim the lights, and lie down for some rest.

More than an hour later you wake up with a start and stretch your arms high above your head.

You sleep longer than you expected, but the sleep was deep.

An hour later, however, you find yourself yawning again.

Later on the same night, you awaken four hours before the alarm is set to ring.

You are wide awake and cannot fall back to sleep.

What went wrong?

Your nap was too long for a daytime snooze.

Grogginess, crankiness, and interrupted nighttime sleep are all signs that you are napping too long during the day.

The disoriented feeling you experienced after your nap is called sleep inertia and it is a telltale sign that your napping habits are all wrong.

Napping for too long can also increase the fatigue you feel during the day.

Long naps can also affect your mental health leaving you depressed and anxious.

Sleeping too long can also lead to developing bad habits, such as sleeping to avoid responsibility and negative situations.

Once in a while, a situation arises where a longer nap is in order.

When a shorter nap won’t do, experts recommend extending your nap time to 90 minutes.

A 90-minute nap will allow your body to move through all four phases of sleep and wake up feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.

For adults, napping for short periods can be effective and beneficial.

The key is to take a nap at the right time of the day and to sleep just long enough to awake feeling rejuvenated and alert.

Sleep is an important part of our life similar to our basic needs.

It is not something you can take for granted; you can’t take a quick nap and think you’ve made up for the sleepless nights.

You can’t sleep poorly during the week and then binge and oversleep whenever you have the opportunity.

Naps can help you recover temporarily; however, it is not an alternative way to replace lost sleep.