#delayed sleep phase

[directactionforhope]

Sleep, insomnia, and sleep schedule are all disability and accessibility issues.

Period.

[jezunya]

Oh, see, what you think I just said is, 'I get to sleep in to 11 each day'

But what I actually said is, 'I have a delayed sleep schedule and when I go completely off of any sleep meds I become entirely nocturnal, but never seeing the sun makes my depression soo much worse and it is basically impossible to live a full life with work and socializing as a night owl, even near a big metropolitan area, much less in any sort of small town, so I put up with having to medicate myself every night just to do the very natural process of conking out for a few hours, but I still feel permanently jetlagged and sleep deprived and 11am is the earliest I've been able to consistently manage, so, no, actually, I will not be joining your 7am hike this Saturday, sorrryyyy'

[glittergroovy]

[violet-phoenix-nebula]

Sometimes there's a perk to having DSPD and being awake most of the night.

When friends fall on some kind of circumstance that will no doubt keep them up all night, I'm able to tell them with complete honesty "if you need someone to talk to in the middle of the night, I'm always awake until [obnoxious time most people are asleep] so you don't have to worry about waking me up".

Cause most people, when they're being kept up all night for whatever reason, don't want to wake up their loved ones they usually talk to. It makes people feel better if someone is already awake.

So, having a fucked up sleep schedule may totally suck, but being able to tell someone "I'll be awake regardless" feels good.

[invisiblefoxfire]

Want a world where night owls are the norm and morning people are sneered at and called lazy for going to bed before midnight. What, going to bed already? The day isn't even over yet! Tired? You can sleep in the morning! Get out of that bed this instant and go do something productive like a normal person!!!

[purplesaline]

Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder - a disorder where a person's circadian rhythm is set later than normal, often two to three hours. It is also linked with ADHD and OCD. It may be a predictor of PTSD.

Non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder - a disorder where a person's circadian rhythm is set longer than the normal 24 hour period. It is an invisible disability that can be extremely debilitating. It is sometimes preceded by Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder. There is an association with PTSD and may be a consequence of PTSD.

The first causes a person to tend to fall asleep later in the day. Instead of 10pm they'll fall asleep at 1am or 2am and wake up later in the day.

The second, more common in blind people than sighted people and likely for different reasons, causes a person to fall asleep at gradually later times each day until it loops around to a normal schedule for awhile and then begins creeping later again. Interestingly people with non-24 seem to feel less need to sleep after a period of sleep deprivation than people with a 24 hour circadian rhythm.

Both disorders are extremely difficult to treat. Attempts to shift either of the above to a normal sleep schedule result in symptoms of sleep deprivation and excessive daytime sleepiness. Akin to living with constant jetlag. If allowed to sleep on a schedule compatible with their circadian rhythm achieve satisfactory sleep but usually with negative social and occupational consequences.

Sources can be easily found with a google search. Executive Dysfunction is saying "nope you already closed all the tabs and I'm not gonna let you go looking for them again too bad."

[pigcatapult]

Saying this on a separate post because it’s inherently morbid to acknowledge that one of my congenital illnesses would kill me if I stopped taking medication for it, but I must still pun:

I might have been born for the graveyard, but modern medicine has kept me alive for the graveyard shift. In the ancestral environment my zombie would have been a great night watcher.

[violet-phoenix-nebula]

Well, I just took a truly obnoxious amount of melatonin. Time to see what happens.