Is getting too little or too much sleep making you anxious? New study says sleeping this many hours a day is best to avoid depression
Sleeping too much can drag your mood down, too!
Key takeaways
- In April 2026, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency released a large-scale health survey of 230,000 people.
- People who sleep fewer than 6 hours or more than 9 hours a day have a 2.1 times higher risk of depression.
- People who live alone have a 2.4 times higher risk of depression, while women experience anxiety at a rate 1.7 times higher than men.
- People with no habit of walking for exercise have a 1.4 times higher daily risk of depression than the general population.
With the weather changing so much lately, do you find that once night comes around, your mind won’t stop racing and you toss and turn without being able to fall asleep? Or when the weekend arrives, do you want to curl up in bed and sleep straight through to the afternoon to catch up on sleep? If you’ve been feeling low and tired all the time lately, it may have a lot to do with how many hours you’re sleeping.
- Related reading: Going to bed early and getting up early won’t automatically make you prettier: 3 unhealthy sleep habits that can make you age faster
Can sleeping too much cause depression?
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In April 2026, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) released a large-scale health survey of more than 230,000 adults. The results found that sleep duration can directly affect our emotional state. The study showed that people who sleep fewer than 6 hours a day or more than 9 hours are 2.1 times more likely to show signs of depression than those who sleep 7 to 8 hours a day. It turns out that staying up late isn’t the only thing that can harm your health; sleeping too much can also weigh on your mood. Keeping your sleep to 7 to 8 hours is the ideal range for helping your body and brain relax.
Why do single women living alone face a higher risk of depression?
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This authoritative survey by the Korean government also uncovered a pattern many of us can relate to. In modern society, more women are choosing to move out and live alone, enjoying the freedom of having a place of their own. Data shows that people who live alone have a 2.4 times higher risk of depression than those living in multi-person households, while women experience anxiety at a rate 1.7 times higher than men. Living alone means you don’t have to consider anyone else, yet the helplessness of being sick on your own or returning after work to the silence of an empty room can sometimes leave you suddenly feeling down. In South Korea’s overall 2025 data, the depression rate had fallen to 5.9%, yet it was as high as 8.9% among adults age 70 and older who lived alone. This all reminds us of the importance of social support.
3 everyday ways to help keep depression at bay
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You don’t need to make dramatic changes to clear the clouds from your mind. Based on the study’s findings, we’ve put together a few of the simplest and most effective everyday suggestions. First, try seeing close friends more often. The research found that people who see friends only once a month are twice as likely to feel down as those who meet up four times a week. Even just grabbing coffee or dinner together after work can help relieve stress.
The second approach is to build a daily walking habit. The survey found that people with no habit of walking for exercise have a 1.4 times higher risk of depression. Try getting off the subway one stop early or taking a walk in the park downstairs after dinner to clear your mind. If you smoke, pay extra attention, too, since smokers are 1.7 times more likely to experience depression than nonsmokers.
Is it true that sleeping in too long on weekends can leave you even more tired?
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Many people stay up late on weekdays, then sleep 10-plus hours straight on weekends. This is often why they feel increasingly tired the more they sleep. Sleeping too long at once can throw off your body clock and make your brain feel jet-lagged, leaving you groggy when you wake up. Even on weekends, it’s best to keep your wake-up time within an hour of your usual schedule. Have a hearty brunch, take a walk and get some sun, and you’ll naturally sleep more soundly at night and get back to feeling refreshed.
Here are a few other recent stories worth checking out:
- Your Weight-Loss Enemy Might Actually Be the Weather: That Sudden Spike in Appetite Could Be Seasonal Depression at Work
- Do you always feel guilty about taking a break? The “one lazy day a week” recharge method shows that doing nothing is the best self-care
- Even Jennie loves wearing them for Pilates: once-loathed toe socks are actually the secret weapon for walking longer without getting tired
