text: how can i control my sleep? i like to sleep a lot. sometimes i sleep for 10+ hours in a day. some people say its not healthy. is there any way for me to control my sleep? ok, without getting a full history beyond "i sleep 10+ hours a day", there may or may not be a health issue here. although the "appropriate" amount of sleep is widely accepted to be an average of about 8 hours; there are clearly individual differences among people in what their sleep "need" is.  beyond the individual differences, there are also age related need... babies will sleep much of the day, where as the elderly will need a bit less than the average adult. children and teens will need a bit more than the average adult (although teens will often not get it due to poor sleep habits).  now, all that being said, you may indeed have a sleep disorder with 10+ hours of sleep. that is quite a bit for someone who typed at least 3 sentences with proper grammer and syntax. there are some non-respiratory (the most common sleep disorder is obstructive sleep apnea) that can cause people to sleep all the time and teen years is when they tend to show up. narcolepsy and klein levens comes to mind, but they are rather rare, and the cataplexy (sudden loss of muscle tone resulting in collapse) that is associated with narcolepsy isn't something that is easily overlooked.   if you find that you snore when you sleep, then obstructive sleep apnea is a possibility; indicating that you may be breathing poorly (or not at all) through the night disrupting your sleep and requiring you to stay in bed tring to catch up longer. when apneics wake up hundreds of times a night to breath, they don't actually remember it generally.  additionally, poor sleep hygeine can add to the amount of sleep you end up trying to get. if you have a poor sleep schedule (changing get up and go to bed times often), work out close to bedtime, drink caffeine late, have tv or radio on at bedtime, read in bed, etc... then you may not be getting very good sleep, and therefore needing more sleep.  now, with all those possiblilities thrown out, there are still more i haven't mentioned. the best thing to do is seek out a sleep disorders center in your area (they are everywhere) and get a referal from your primary care physician and have a sleep study done to determine if indeed you have a problem that may be a health risk to you. these are easy tests really, you will come into a lab before bed, they will attach a couple dozen wires to you with a little glue and you'll sleep overnight while being monitored, if narcolepsy is suspected then you may do some "nap studies" through the day also. when its all done, a sleep specialist will review the results with you determining if you do or do not have a sleep disorder.   good luck