April 1st
Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome
"Not All Night Owls Have a Choice"
By: Terrence Gaddis
Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS) is a
condition affecting the body’s normal biological clock cycle. The circadian cycle - human beings’ natural
biological clock which functions on a normal 24 hour cycle - appears to be unusually long in sufferers of DSPS, or
simply misaligned with the societal norm. Even in cases where sufferers of DSPS are sleep deprived, they
still have difficulty falling asleep in normal even hours as opposed to individuals who being sleep
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Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome is also known as:
Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorder
Delayed Sleep Phase Type
Delayed Sleep-Phase Disorder
“Social Jet Lag” |
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deprived have no difficulty sleeping. It appears as if sleep deprivation does not reset the circadian clock
of people with this condition - they still can only sleep at their natural sleep time hour, which is often
post-2:00 a.m.
Individuals with this affliction have great difficulty living with a “normal” schedule and find it difficult to
awake because their biological clocks are out of phase with regular schedules. Their situation is akin to
individuals who have to work night shift hours and can not seem to adjust to sleeping in the day and working at
night.
Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome is regularly misdiagnosed and often completely disregarded by physicians. It is also
often mistaken for other issues, including: depression, schizophrenia, or attention deficit disorder. The correct
diagnosis rate on this ailment is significantly low.
Common Symptoms
Common symptoms of Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome can include any of the following items:
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Significant delays in the major sleep period
desired |
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Patients when not made to stick to a regular
work-life clock, will not experience any different quality of sleep or a different duration of sleep
than anyone on a normal clock |
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Patients have no problem staying asleep once
they have gone to sleep |
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People suffering from this find it severely
difficult to move their normal sleep patterns to an earlier time period |
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Habitual sleep pattern onsets are post-2:00
a.m. |
Difference from Insomnia
For many, Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome is
confused with Insomnia. Insomnia and DSPS are not the same maladies. The differences between a sufferer of Insomnia
and DSPS involve:
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Individuals with DSPS fall asleep the same time
every night and have no problems sleeping once they have fallen asleep - neither is the case with
insomniacs |
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DSPS patients sleep well and regularly when
allowed to follow their own sleep patterns |
DSPS patients do
not have a problem sleeping in the morning or afternoon, which chronic
insomnia sufferers have trouble doing
Treatments
A number of treatments exist
for Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. The most commonly known and studied are:
- Light Therapy - use of a LED light device that goes on earlier
than a patient’s normal waking
time as some researchers believe that DSPS is a light sensitivity issue with patients
- Darkness Therapy - related to the above treatment, this one
occurs in the evening where the treatment is to dim lights in the patient’s dwelling a few hours prior to
sleep
- Chronotherapy - a resetting of the circadian clock by manipulating the individual’s normal bed time;
one treatment is to have a patient go to bed 2 hours later every day until their clock is turned to the desired
time; another treatment involves keeping a patient awake for 24 hours and then having them sleep 90 minutes
prior to their normal sleep time and having them maintain that sleep time for one week
- Melatonin - small doses are taken one hour prior to sleep time to induce
sleep
Delayed Sleep Phase
Syndrome is also known as:
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Circadian Rhythm Sleep
Disorder |
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Delayed Sleep Phase Type |
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Delayed Sleep-Phase Disorder |
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“Social Jet Lag” |
Source: http://www.Go-to-Sleep.net
Go-to-Sleep.net is a website dedicated to the study of sleep. Everything that you could want to to know about how
to go to sleep, including: sleep disorders, causes, cures, and studies.
Terrence Gaddis has been fascinated with sleep maladies since suffering through a case of insomnia in his youth.
From this time forward, he has studied all the causes, treatments and news about this phenomenon.
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