It’s confession time. Yes, again.
I’ve been posting a lot of insomnia-related articles lately because it’s a subject near and dear to my heart. That’s right: like so many, I have been an insomnia sufferer. Or I thought I was. Let me explain.
Sleep disorders take different forms. And apparently, there’s one that isn’t technically insomnia, but does result in a loss of normal, restful sleep: delayed sleep phase disorder (also called delayed sleep phase syndrome). I must give credit here to this web author and sleep specialist, whose blog inspired today’s post.
Technically, DSPS is not classified as standard insomnia. Rather, it’s a “circadian rhythm disorder,” or a resetting of one’s sleep-wake cycle to inappropriate times. Unlike most insomniacs, DSPS sufferers can achieve a normal total amount of sleep; they just can’t do it at the times that would appropriately correspond with dawn, dusk and evening. Instead, an individual with DSPS may find himself unable to fall asleep until, for example, 3AM – but he’ll then easily sleep until 11AM and in fact may be difficult to wake in the interim.
As diurnal (daytime-wakeful) beings, though, getting the proper total amount of hours still leaves us feeling somewhat “off,” because we’re hardwired to be wakeful when it’s light out and to get sleepy after the sun begins to set. Therefore, DSPS people generally will begin to suffer some insomnia symptoms – grogginess, clumsiness, irritability and other issues – over time whether or not they’re getting eight hours of sleep per night (or day).
Therefore, unless one is a shift worker or has some other reason he or she needs to be awake at non-traditional hours, it’s important to get DSPS under control. Experts as a whole recommend resetting one’s internal clock using light, or lack of it, at the appropriate hours. Light lamps may be necessary in order to drive the point home to the brain, but ask a professional how to go about this (the authors of the blog I quoted above recommend bringing bedtime back only in 15-20 increments, for example, rather than doing the reverse of blasting oneself with light in the morning regardless of how little sleep was achieved the night before).
With the use of artificial lighting, as well as “blue” light from electronics (the computer; an iPhone) well past sundown, the theory makes sense, so if you suspect you’re a sufferer, ask your doctor for help.
Please note: We do NOT recommend starting a regimen such as melatonin (which, though often effective, can exacerbate certain other disorders, such as depression) without speaking to a professional first. But for people who just can’t seem to get to sleep, then can’t seem to wake up once they’re in dreamland, research into this issue could be a real breakthrough. For more info click
A good start a s with any sleep problem is to throw out that old lumpy mattress and trading up to a state of the art Sleepshaper memory foam mattress that moulds itself to your body’s contours and gives you all over support thus encouraging a good night’s sleep.
Tags: Sleep Problems