When Sleep Deludes

Sleeping at a normal time and waking up all refreshed – sounds blissful, eh! But this might be far from what happens in reality. We all have our reasons for not being able to stick to what nature had intended our natural cycle to be like. We either keep up because we’ve carried work home or because we’re working the night shift. You might even end up sacrificing a good night’s sleep because you wanted to spend the night out on the town with your friends. Whatever your reasons, you’re unable to sleep off at the time that was considered ‘normal’ by our forefathers.

Well, not being able to sleep because something has you occupied, but not being able to sleep even when you want to and have nothing to stop you from doing so – that is another story altogether. Some people may not be able to catch a wink before somewhere around 3 a.m. in the morning. Is this because they like staying up? Not really! It may be because they suffer from something called DSPS or Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome.

What is DSPS?

DSPS is also known as phase lag syndrome. It is a circadian rhythm sleep disorder. It is different from experiencing a jet lag, or having disturbed sleep rhythm owing to shift working, in that it is generally a persistent condition. According to the paradigms of clinical settings, DSPS becomes one of the most common complications when it comes to the sleep-wake patterns.

The delayed sleep phase syndrome is said to be the result of a mismatch (which is called desynchronization) when it comes to the internal biological clock of the patient and the external environment that he/she is exposed to. This desynchronization is different from jet lag, in that it isn’t caused by travelling or a change that is seen in the immediate external environment of the person. The capability of the patient to fall asleep is challenged, when it comes to this disorder. Their propensity to fall asleep gets ‘delayed’, when compared to other people around them. As a result, the patient of DSPS is out of sync when it comes to the rest of his/her life.

How does DSPS work?

Patients suffering from a delayed sleep phase syndrome will end up finding it difficult to sleep before the time of 2 a.m. They will have an extremely difficult time when it comes to getting up from their sleep any time before the 6 a.m. radar. People suffering from this syndrome generally end up getting nicknamed as ‘night owls’; and will rarely be described as being ‘morning people’. They will feel rested if they end up sleeping for a good 7 to 9 hours (i.e. from 3 a.m. to 11 a.m.). Unfortunately, given the timings that the real world functions on, this is generally not the case.

The Hitches –

Unfortunately, people with DSPS end up having difficulty in functioning when it comes to early morning school or work timings; and they might end up losing their jobs or failing courses because early mornings are not for them. Punctuality is another issue altogether. This ends up compromising their health and overall well-being levels also get compromised.

Patients suffering from this syndrome might end up misconstruing their condition as being that of insomnia, but it generally isn’t the case. The moment people end up having trouble sleeping, they begin believing that they might not be getting any sleep at all. But this isn’t true. People with DSPS do get a lot of sleep, but it just isn’t going to happen during the time frame that is considered ‘normal’.

The Prevalence –

According to a recently conducted survey, most of the cases of DSPS will surface during childhood and are seen to occur in young men more often than in other categories. This disorder tends to occur among teenagers and might affect around 7% of them.