Typically, 4 to 6 hours. I think it's less important how much sleep I get vs when I get that sleep. If it's 10 to 2, great...if it's midnight to 4, not so great. I typically wake up at the same time every day, without an alarm clock, so this seems to be the right sleep approach for me -- everyone is different though.

There's been some interesting research into REM sleep, into changes in sleep pattens as we moved to more modern times. I've read that the 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep is just something made up and historically people would sleep for shorter periods of time, sleep for a few hours, then do things for a few hours, then sleep again. That makes sense if you think about agrarian households and the need for things like keeping a fire going overnight, etc.

If I feel like I'm tired because I'm not getting enough sleep, I'll use an sleep timer website to determine when I should go to bed so that I wake up at the right spot in the REM cycle, which can be useful. (I'll use the most when I'm trying to pre-shift my sleep cycle if I'm going to have a big timezone change). I'd also lock the cat in another room (if I had a cat that was disturbing my sleep that much (I do not have a cat)).

Good luck!

That's not much sleep. I sure would be grumpy 24/7 if I were you. Thanks for responding.

Hi Linda,

Thank you so much for understanding, sharing and for responding. Ive been down this road before with counselors and medications but I am going to give it another try, with a different team. I have been thinking that I need to exercise and move more. Staying in bed does nothing for me that's for sure. I appreciate hearing from you!

Thank you for responding. You are right that I need to own my depression and go back and get help again. I gave up a little bit after a bad experience with medications and also I had a therapist that I felt I could not work well with. I didn't feel like it was helping me at all but I won't give up until I get it right.

Thank you very much for your words of encouragement and support.