Imagine a morning in 2035: you wake up after four hours of sleep, feeling as refreshed as if you'd slept eight. A small pill, taken before bed, has optimized every minute of rest, eliminating waste and focusing neural recovery. Impossible? Perhaps, but research is working on it. In the meantime, however, it's still 2025, and the reality is different.
New drugs like daridorexant improve the quality of deep sleep, and modafinil prolongs wakefulness, but neither reduces the need for sleep. The body still requires its seven to nine hours, and those who seek shortcuts discover that biology accepts no tricks.
The dream of sleeping less (and the awakening to reality)
The idea of a sleep-replacing pill isn't new. In the 1960s, it was thought that amphetamines could keep soldiers awake for days. Then came benzodiazepines for insomnia, Z drugs like zolpidem, and more recently, orexin antagonists. Each generation promises a solution. Each generation discovers that the body has other ideas.
Il daridorexant, approved by theEuropean Medicines Agency In 2022, it's the latest arrival. It blocks receptors for orexin, a neuropeptide that regulates wakefulness and sleep. Clinical studies show It improves the quality of deep sleep and reduces nighttime awakenings. But it doesn't shorten the hours you need. Sleep better, not less.
On the other end of the spectrum is the modafinil, a drug that prolongs wakefulness. Used by the military, pilots, and anyone who must stay awake for critical missions, it can maintain cognitive function for 24 consecutive hours. Solriamfetol, approved in 2020, does something similar for those with narcolepsy. Both work. But they don't replace sleep. They delay it.
Why the body says no
The problem isn't technical. It's biological. During deep sleep, the brain eliminates toxins accumulated during the day, consolidates memory, and regulates the immune system. The phase REM processes emotions and strengthens neural connections. A study by Vanderbilt University published in March 2025 on almost 47 thousand people has shown that Those who sleep consistently between seven and nine hours have a 29% lower risk of mortality compared to those who alternate periods of short and long sleep.
It's not a question of total hours, but of continuity. Chronically fragmented or reduced sleep increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and cognitive decline. And the sleep debt builds up: sleeping four hours for five consecutive nights is equivalent, in terms of cognitive deficit, to staying awake for two entire nights. But the tired brain doesn't notice it. As he says Russell Foster, neuroscientist of theOxford University: the tired brain is unable to realize how tired it is.
Older people respond less to sleeping pills than younger people. A systematic review of 70 studies Published in January 2025, it showed that sleep quality in people over 65 improved less with hypnotics. This phenomenon is linked to changes in pharmacodynamics and circadian rhythms. Here too, the body dictates the rules.
Drugs that improve (but do not replace) sleep
Sleep pharmacology has made significant progress. Daridorexant, as mentioned, is a step ahead of benzodiazepines: it is not addictive, has minimal residual effects the next day, and acts more selectively on sleep mechanisms. But it remains a drug for insomnia, not to reduce the need for sleep.
Medications to prolong wakefulness like modafinil or solriamfetol are effective in specific contexts: night shifts, military operations, narcolepsy. But they come at a price. Prolonged use can cause irritability, anxiety, and tachycardia. And in any case, sooner or later, sleep takes its toll. With interest.
Some researchers are exploring different approaches. At MIT they developed Dormio, a device that manipulates dreams to enhance creativity during sleep. Other laboratories are studying transcranial stimulation to enhance deep sleep. But we are far from a pill that compresses eight hours into four.
The paradox of the ever-awake society
The insomnia drug market is worth billions. Startups biohacking They promise four-hour sleep routines. Natural supplements are multiplying on the shelves. Yet international guidelines They continue to recommend cognitive behavioral therapy and sleep hygiene as first choices. Always go to bed at the same time. Avoid screens before bed. No caffeine after 3:00 PM. Simple advice, often ignored.
The inconvenient truth is that modern society is built against sleep. Night shifts, intercontinental flights, streaming until 3 a.m. We're looking for a pharmacological solution to a structural problem. It's like looking for a pill to reduce your oxygen intake because the air is polluted. Sure, you can patch it up. But the problem remains.
The Sleep-Replacing Pill: What to Expect (Realistically)
In the coming years, we'll see new drugs that will further optimize sleep quality. Perhaps there will be gene therapies that modify sleep patterns. Perhaps wearable devices that synchronize sleep with personal circadian rhythms. But drastically reducing the required hours without consequences? Unlikely.
Sleep is not a bug in the human operating system that needs to be fixed. It is an essential function, shaped by millions of years of evolution. Of course, there are outliers: people with genetic mutations who sleep four hours and are fine. But they are very rare. For the remaining 99,9% of the population, the formula remains unchanged: seven to nine hours, possibly in a row, possibly in the dark.
In the meantime, perhaps the question to ask isn't "how can I sleep less?" but "why do I want to sleep less?" If the answer is "because I don't have time," the problem isn't sleep. It's everything else.
The pill that replaces eight hours of sleep remains, for now, in the realm of unfulfilled promises. Along with mass-produced flying machines and teleportation, for example. Some things, it seems, simply require time. Including sleep.
