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[chaoswolf]

: [Damn my insomnia] I hate being an insomniac. I really do. I can't seem to get to sleep much before 0200, and can't seem to wake up until late afternoon. Damn my insomnia. Probably because it's summer. That might be it. Too hot to sleep during the night. That's it, I'm sure. Fuck. Just....gah. flower_cat bitched at me for not getting shoes. Seems like she wants to now.

Comments

[christophine.livejournal.com]

It sounds like what you have is not actually insomnia but Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (http://www.sleepdisorderchannel.com/dsps/) (DSPS). This is a sleep disorder that I also have. One of the lovely things about it is that people assume that you're choosing not to sleep until sometime in the wee hours of the morning. I got into endless fights with my folks about my sleep habits until I found out I had DSPS.

Treatment (http://www.sleepdisorderchannel.com/dsps/treatment.shtml) is limited, and none of it is permanent. If the light box therapy mentioned is ever stopped, then you'll slowly drift back to the "natural" circadian rhythms of your body rather than the ones preferred by society. The going to sleep later can work as a temporary reset also - this is the one that I do myself. But it's not permanent. After time, you'll find that you're drifting back toward your current pattern, and you'll have to do chronotherapy again.

The best solutions are either using a lightbox or visor early in the morning every day, likely every morning for the rest of your life. Or what I finally settled on - taking classes that fit with my natural DSPS rhythms, and aiming for a job with flexibility in scheduling. Fortunately I'm an artist, and artists are expected to be eccentric and (often) set their own strange working hours.