Sleep disorders
Circadian rhythm sleep disorders
This is not an inability to sleep, but a mismatch between your internal rhythm and the hours your life demands of you.
What it is
In delayed sleep phase syndrome, sleep comes normally but very late — and waking at a socially acceptable hour becomes punishing. It is particularly common in adolescents and young adults.
In shift work, the body clock never catches up with rotating cycles, which leads to chronic sleep loss and sleepiness.
Jet lag is the acute, temporary version of the same phenomenon after travelling across time zones.
How it shows up
- Sleep that comes normally, but very late
- Serious difficulty waking in the morning
- Normal sleep when the schedule is free (holidays, weekends)
- Heavy sleepiness on shift and an inability to sleep off it
- A chronic sense of jet lag without having travelled
How it is treated
- 01
Chronotherapy: a gradual, controlled shift of sleep and wake times.
- 02
Targeted light exposure — and light avoidance — at specific hours, depending on the direction of the shift.
- 03
Anchoring the rhythm to a fixed wake time rather than a fixed bedtime.
- 04
Designing sleep strategies for shift work, with planned short naps and caffeine management.
Let's find out whether this is what is happening to you.