The following is a visitor-submitted question or story. For more, you can submit your own sleep story here, or browse the collection of experiences and questions other visitors have shared here.

Night Time = My Time

by Dan S
(Ireland)

So happy i found such an interesting site on this topic...not really sure if i have DSPS. I find that night time is the best time for me to do anything, i can easily spend the whole night doing assignments or even reading a random book. But the day time i find hard to get through, getting up for college is so hard..i have one alarm to wake me up and another to get me up! Even in college, i seem to find it hard to focus on the class because all my focus goes on not falling asleep...and its not the classes, cos i love them, i just seem to dose off at inappropriate times!


I seem to come alive after midnight, and even if my eyes are a dead weight i cant sleep until 3/4am! I make most of my life decisions, plans for the next day, etc at night when im in bed wide awake. It has gotten to the stage that i have to have the TV or laptop on because lying there wide awake doing nothing was driving me mad!! I love taking walks at obscene times..going for a stroll at 2am is so amazing (as weird as that sounds). Even after a night out, im on a constant high that i want to stay out all night just doing nothing, and i dont drink or anything so cant blame the alcohol for that!

At the weekends i have free reign, i can easily stay up til 5/6 and wake up at midday, refreshed like a normal nights sleep. Though i am usually woken up and have, somehow, slept through the loudest noises that wake everyone. For example, one night i went to sleep at 3 and was woken up by my mother because the next door neighbours chimney was on fire...my room is in the attic i sleep next to the chimney and didnt even hear the firemen literally above my head or hear the noise in the chimney! Would have slept through it, if i wasnt woken.

Staying up this late has become so easy, i didnt even think it could be anything like DSPS.



Kevin: Hey Dan, it's definitely a delayed sleep phase. But all that means is that the chemicals your body uses to keep you alert are being released at night while the hormones that put you to sleep are being released in the day. So your biological clock is just shifted in a way that makes the night a time to be alert and alive and the day a time to sleep (or in your case, sometimes a time to struggle to stay awake during class and the like).

I hope the site serves as a helpful tool to you. Let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to post them in the comments section using the link below.

Warmly,
Kevin

Click here to post comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Thoughts On Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome.




Enjoy this page? Please help us pay it forward to others who would find it valuable by Liking, Sharing, Tweeting, Stumbling, and/or Voting below.

About This Site

Welcome! This site is continuously being created by students of Dr. William C. Dement's Sleep And Dreams course at Stanford University.

We made this site as a call to action for people all over the world to live healthier, happier, safer, and more productive lives by learning about their own sleep. We have faith that reading the information provided on this site will motivate you to be smart about your sleep deprivation and strategic about your alertness in order to live life to your fullest, most energetic potential.

In fact, we challenge you to do so! What do you say, are you up for the challenge?


A Note On Visitor-Submitted Questions:

Publishing sleep stories and questions from our visitors is meant to create a forum for open and proactive dialogue about an extremely important portion of our lives (one that occupies 1/3 of it and affects the other 2/3) that isn't talked about enough. It is not meant to substitute a trip to the doctor or the advice of a specialist. It's good to talk; it is not good to avoid consulting someone who's profession it is to help you with this kind of stuff.

If you are in any way concerned about your sleep health, don't wait for an answer on here, and don't necessarily rely on them. See a sleep specialist in your area as soon as possible.

More Questions:

Ask | Answer

The Stanford Sleep Book

Stanford Sleep Book Picture

Dr. Dement's pioneering textbook has been the core text for Sleep and Dreams since 1980, but it has just recently been made available to the wider public for the first time.

In it you'll find a more detailed account of the most important things you need to know about sleep, alertness, dreams, and sleep disorders. Studies, statistics, plus plenty of Dr. Dement's classic anecdotes painting the history of sleep medicine.

Preface | Intro | Contents | Get A Copy

More Sleep Resources

The Zeo

A revolution in personal sleep tracking, the Zeo is a wireless headband that transmits your brainwaves in realtime to a dock (pictured here) or your smartphone. The result? You can wake up and see exactly what stages of sleep you were in during the night! Unprecedented personalized sleep knowledge.

Sleep Paralysis: A Dreamer's Guide

Sleep Paralysis Treatment Book

Ever woken up paralyzed? A surprising number of us have, believe it or not. But few know the actual causes of this phenomenon, and fewer still how to exert control over it. Dream researcher and sleep paralysis expert Ryan Hurd shares breakthrough insights into how to do just that.

Important Disclaimer

Please Note:

The information found on this page and throughout this site is intended for general information purposes only. While it may prove useful and empowering, it is NOT intended as a substitute for the expertise and judgments of healthcare practitioners.

For more info, see our
Terms of Use.