Generally, a person's sleep requirements can vary depending on their individual biological clock. The amount of sleep someone needs to feel properly rested may be anywhere between 7 and 9 hours, but for some people it may be more than this.
People who require more shut eye than the average age group are known as "long sleepers". Adults usually sleep between 10 and 12 hours per night - a perfectly normal and healthy amount. It is simply due to their own internal body clock that they need more rest than most.
People affected by a long sleeping tendency experience difficulty in getting enough daytime hours. This problem originates in early childhood and usually carries on throughout their lifetime. Its cause is not attributable to any medical or mental disruption, but rather is a steady, unwavering pattern of rest.
Many long sleepers are sleep-deprived because they don't have the opportunity to get the rest they need during the week. Their obligations to work, school and family appear to take up most of their time. In order to compensate, they tend to have longer snoozes on weekends or holidays, catching up with 12 to 15 hours of shut-eye.
Those who are long sleepers and don't clock enough hours at night may experience fatigue during the day. This need for lengthy periods of rest can interfere with relationships with family and friends, making it difficult to participate in social engagements or maintain certain work or educational timetables. Nevertheless, once they get sufficient slumber, long sleepers have the capacity to be wide awake and fully recharged during their waking hours.