How much of a sleep debt do you have? (Coren, 1996)

-answer the following questions with a "yes" or a "no" and then calculate your score

1. Do you usually need a loud alarm clock to wake you up in the morning?
2. Do you usually hit the snooze button or turn the alarm off to get a few more minutes of sleep in the morning?
3. Do you find that getting out of bed in the morning is usually a struggle?
4. Do you sometimes sleep through your alarm?
5. Do you usually find that a single beer, glass of wine, or other alcoholic drink seems to have a noticeable effect on you?
6. Do you sleep longer on the weekends than you do during the week?
7. Do you sleep longer on vacations than you do during workweeks?
8. Do you feel that your "get up and go" has gotten up and gone?
9. Do you find that it is difficult to attend to details or routine chores?
10. Do you sometimes fall asleep when you had not intended to?
11. Do you sometimes get very sleepy while you are sitting and reading?
12. Do you sometimes find yourself getting very sleepy or dozing off when you are watching TV?
13. When you are a passenger in a car, bus, airplane, or train and the trip lasts over an hour, do you find yourself getting very sleepy or dozing off?
14. Do you usually feel extremely sleepy or doze off when you are sitting quietly after a large lunch without alcohol?
15. Do you tend to get sleepy when you are sitting quietly at a public meeting, lecture, or in a theater?
16. Have you sometimes found yourself getting extremely sleepy with the urge to doze when you are driving and are stopped in traffic for a few minutes?
17. Do you drink more than four cups of coffee or tea during the day?

- to score your test, count the number of times you answered "yes"

If your score is:

4 or less: You are getting enough sleep and are not showing any significant signs of a sleep debt.

5 or 6: You are probably getting enough sleep on most days, but there are some days when you are short on sleep, which may cause you to be less than 100% in some activities.

7 or 8: You are showing some evidence of a sleep debt that may cause consequences in your daily life. Things to watch for are little errors and short episodes of inattention. Usually at this level you will be able to catch your errors if you have a chance to correct your work.

9 to 11: At this level, you definitely have a large sleep debt and it may cause you to commit large, random errors. Things to watch for are missed appointments and not remembering that you were given particular information or instructions. Especially watch for feelings of reduced motivation or brief bouts of depression or annoyance.

12 to 14: At this level, your sleep debt may be taking a major toll on your life. In addition to the symptoms outlined for scores 7 to 11, your general quality of life may be suffering. For example, you may find yourself less interested in things you used to find fascinating, you may be less inclined to socialize, and you may be more accident prone.

15 and above: This score suggests a major sleep debt problem and includes levels of sleepiness in the range often found in people with clinical levels of disturbance like sleep apnea or insomnia. With a score this high, you definitely need to make changes in your sleep behavior to ensure your physical and psychological safety. You need to try to increase the amount of sleep you get, and if this doesn't work, you should seek professional help.

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