Introduction

It's an accepted fact that humans need sleep to survive. Still, how much sleep do people need? What are the short and long-term consequences of not sleeping enough?

As an overworked high school student, I've experienced a variety of sleep times, from the weekend 14-hour night to the weekday 5-hour night to the all too often night-before-exams 1-hour night. Sometimes, after getting little or no sleep, I find myself alert and hyper, while a long-night's sleep leaves me groggy and sluggish for part of the day; other times, these results are reversed. I find myself wondering, "Is there a pattern here? Do I really need that much sleep to function properly?"

As of today, my hypothesis is that 5 hours is enough sleep for me, a 17-year-old teenager, to wake up ready to go and to make it through the day. I may get a little slower towards mid-morning or afternoon, but I can do all right on 5 hours of sleep. Because most experts recommend 8-10 hours for my age group, I don't know what long-term consequences sleep deprivation can have, but hopefully my research will shed some light on the subject.