The Catalyst

By Jesse Siddeek, Reporter

Have you ever wondered why after you sleep in, you feel even more tired? Instead of being refreshed after 12 hours of sleep, you actually feel groggy. Why is this?

Doctors often warn about the dangers of not sleeping enough. If affects your immune system, your weight, and your overall productivity. When you sleep, it renews and heals your body but if you are only getting 5 hours of sleep during the week and then 12 during the weekend, this messes with your body. Scientists are sure what exactly cause you to feel groggy after lots of sleep because it could be due to many factors.

One of the factors is the quality of your sleep. The sleep cycle has 4 stages and takes about an average of 90 minutes to complete. It starts with light sleep and then gets deeper until you reach stage 4. Then you hit REM sleep which is where you dream. If you stay in the beginning levels of the sleep cycle all night, then your body isn’t getting the rest it needs. This can cause you to oversleep.

Genetics are also another factor that contributes to sleep patterns. “Short Sleepers” are people who sleep for 6.5 hours while “Long Sleepers” need more than 9.5 hours. Many studies have concluded that there is a certain gene that regulates your sleeping patterns. This gene controls how long you need to sleep.

Its hard for your body is you stay up late during the week and then crash all weekend. The best thing to do is have a regulated sleeping pattern that is around 8 hours of sleep so you wont experience that groggy feeling.