The Sleep Gap Is Real: Why Women Need More Sleep Than Men, According to a Physician

There is a sleep gap between men and women, and it’s backed by science. While conversations about gender gaps in the workplace and healthcare are widespread, the gap in sleep needs has received far less attention. A physician is working to change that by bringing five under-discussed sleep facts into the public conversation.
The most talked-about of his revelations is that women need approximately 20 more minutes of sleep per night than men. The explanation is tied to brain activity and the demands of multitasking — a cognitive mode that requires the brain to divide and rapidly redirect its attention. The more the brain is stretched during the day, the more rest it needs to fully recover at night.
Sleep onset — the time between lying down and actually falling asleep — is a telling health metric. Ideally, this process should take 10 to 20 minutes. If you fall asleep in under five minutes on a regular basis, sleep deprivation is likely at play. If it takes 30 minutes or more, insomnia or anxiety may be contributing factors, and professional guidance can help.
Dreams are another fascinating area where most people have misconceptions. While it might seem like we remember our dreams fairly well, research indicates we forget roughly 95 percent of them. The brain simply doesn’t encode most dream experiences into lasting memory. Writing down your dreams the moment you wake — before checking your phone or getting up — dramatically improves recall.
Finally, two practical insights can change how you approach your daily routine. Seventeen hours of continuous wakefulness impairs your brain to a degree comparable to mild intoxication, which is a compelling reason to prioritize sleep before major tasks or decisions. And if you use melatonin, consider dropping your dose dramatically — 0.5 mg aligns with your body’s own natural output and often works better than standard store doses.