80 Chapter 4: Stress Management and Sleep Figure 4.6. Amount of Sleep Required Based on Age A simple method for determining whether an individual is getting enough sleep is by taking a sleep deprivation quiz. Provided below is a sample sleep deprivation quiz developed by the University Center for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Sleep Disorders (Maas, 1999). To take the quiz,, simply answer “yes” or “no” to the following five questions based on the sleep behavior performed over the past six months. 1. Do you frequently fall asleep if given a sleep opportunity (i.e., at least 10 minutes in a cool, dark, and quiet environment)? 2. Do you frequently need an alarm clock to wake up? 3. Do you frequently catch up on sleep during weekends? 4. Do you frequently take naps during the day? 5. When you wake up, do you feel tired most mornings? If an individual answers yes to two or more of the questions, they need more sleep. For an individual to determine how much sleep they need, they must first establish a regular bedtime each night to stabilize the internal circadian biological clock. They should also ensure that there are no disturbances that would cause them to be awakened early. Individuals typically report sleeping 10-12 hours the first night, 9-10 hours the next several nights, and then progressively less over time until their sleep schedule stabilizes. Most individuals can stabilize their sleep schedule within two weeks and report needing somewhere between 7-9 hours per night (Walters & Byl, 2013).
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