Re: Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome

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Re: Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome

Posted by Anna on September 19, 2002 at 01:04:55:
In Reply to: Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome posted by Alex on September 12, 2002 at 01:31:33:
Hi Alex - I know exactly where you're coming from .
My personal thoughts are that we aren't meant to have all of our sleep in "one hit". It has been proven in several studies that where subjects have not had clocks and set schedules, they sleep for shorter periods at more frequent intervals, averaging 10hrs sleep over a 24-25hr period.
For me, I see sleep a lot like food - try eating ALL your food in one sitting then having nothing else for 24hrs. You will probably struggle to get through it all in one sitting, then find yourself wanting to snack later on. This is certainly how I sleep - 5-6hrs of sleep, then I'm wide awake, only to feel like a nap later in the day.
Another study that might interest you, was done on the peak hours that human error caused accidents (both traffic & industrial). These times were 2-5am and 2-5pm. I would love to know how these figures compare with the Mediterranean countries that have a "siesta" in the afternoon. I'm willing to bet they would be quite different. Again, it just further convinces me that if we slept when our bodies told us we needed to, rather than according to our schedules and what is considered "normal", a lot less of us would be writing into this forum.
And one final thing - almost EVERYONE I know who was born in the morning (5am-early afternoon) are definite "morning" people (early to bed, early to rise) and those born at night (early evening-3am) are definite "night" people (late to bed, late to rise). Perhaps that is something you can look into.
As a nightowl myself, I find my mind is most alert in the late evening (9:30 - midnight) which is not very helpful for sleeping, and yes, I find the earlier I try to go to bed, the earlier I wake up, so the amount of time I actually sleep is no different. I still feel tired the next day.
Hope this gave you something to ponder, and remember, there is plenty of info on the net if you type the key words into your search engine.

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Sleep Deprivation due to Sleep Apnea and insufficient sleep are common and can present as insomnia, narcolepsy, or idiopathic hypersomnia. In infants and children sleep problems commonly present themselves as ADD or ADHD.