As an adult, it is recommended to have 7 - 9 hours of sleep a night. I really cannot remember the last time this happened for me but it must have been over a decade ago. I have Multiple Sclerosis and have trouble sleeping. Most nights - or mornings in fact - I do not try to get to sleep until 2 - 3 am. One reason is Steem as a lot of my contacts, allies, and friends are in US timezones. The other reason, my MS.
Over the years I have discovered how to meditate myself to sleep. I can quite easily enter a state whereby I can relax each and every muscle to such a point that I can no longer feel my limbs - at least until some part of my wiring malfunctions and kicks a leg out or twitches random muscles, bringing me back from the brink of unconsciousness. Either way, I cannot drop off until I am way beyond tired. When my leg muscles begin to spasm, I know it's time to sleep. Nowadays, it's not so much a matter of going to the Land of Nod, it's staying there.
Throughout the night I wake up at least 5 times, be it through pain, muscle spasms or multiple trips to the bathroom. Once upon a time, I remember wishing I could recollect my dreams, as in dreamland I had so much fun. With such interrupted sleep, every night's journey to my subconscious is vivid in memory. I will often wake up in pain, dream fresh in my head, then drop back into the dream. Even when I am sleeping, my mind never seems to shut off.
As you can imagine, nights are long affairs, praying for sleep yet wishing beyond hope that my mind will just shut the hell up and leave me be. Dreaming has become a nightmare as I know I won't receive the desperately needed rest my body needs. Fatigue is a symptom of Multiple Sclerosis, so every night without proper rest just adds to the tiredness. It's a never-ending circle. Often I will try to nap a few times a day, just to escape this energy-sapping reality, only to be tortured by never-ending dreams. Even in dreams, I am no longer the fit and active Muxxy of old.