Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder, also known as DNS is a type of sleep disorders among teenagers which are believed affecting between seven to ten percent of teenagers. This disorder are mostly outgrown by most teenagers by the time they reach young adulthood. Below one percent of adults are conceived to have DSP. In addition, many people often have mistakes sleep disorder for insomnia.
A great deal of people with delayed sleep phase disorder are named to as night owls. This is because if allowed to be on their own, they would stay up till really late, some of the times until 4 or 5 a.m. They like to get up really late in the morning or early afternoon.
Many teenagers like to stay up late and sleep late in the morning. Sometimes this is because they want to socialize at that time of the day. However, it can also be due to the natural delay in the circadian sleep / wake rhythm at their age of development.
Sleep disorders among teenagers most of the time make the teenagers real tired on the day and they may even fall asleep in the classroom. The definite cause of this sleep disorder is not known but It is known for certain that it is a circadian rhythm problem. The sleep disorders symptoms that you may notice are when teenagers frequently have a really hard time getting up in the morning for school. Though, they go to sleep at a regular time, such as 11 p.m., they still toss and turn for hours like an individual with insomnia. The difference is, unlike an insomniac, people with delayed sleep phase disorder have no difficulty staying asleep but they do have a very difficult time getting up early in the morning.
Sleep disorder treatments are available for people that need to get onto a more traditional sleep / wake schedule. The types of treatment include, bright light, chronotherapy, melatonin and over- the-counter prescribed sleeping pills.
One form of sleep disorder treatments are the bright light treatment for delayed sleep phase disorder uses bright light to trick the brain’s circadian clock . Exposure to bright light shifts the circadian rhythm if it is administered within a few hours of the body’s lowest temperature at night.
Chronotherapy has been used as sleep disorder treatments for someone with delayed sleep phase disorder requires a block of time one week long. Each day bedtime is delayed by three hours successively. For instance, for someone that falls asleep at 2 a.m. but wants to fall asleep at 11. p.m., their bedtime would move to 5 a.m. on the first day. The next day it would move to 8 a.m. and continue this cycle for a week. Sleep disorders among teenagers can be quite serious where in some cases, teenagers suffering with delayed sleep phase disorder would need a week off from school in order to complete this therapy. Once the desired bed time is reached it is very important to keep a consistent wake up time.
There are several sleep disorder treatments requiring respective drugs that are utilized to treat delayed sleep phase disorder. . Prescription medicine such as Ramelteon, and other sleeping pills, have been successful in dealing teenagers and adults with delayed sleep phase disorder.In addition, Melatonin has been successful in altering the sleep cycle of people with this sleep disorder.
If your teenager has difficulty dozing off and all of the time prefer to stay up late, be well aware of the possibleness that a sleep disorder may be present. Parents and teachers had better be informed of sleep disorders among teenagers so that they are more observing with the sleep disorders symptoms and sleep disorder treatments can be sought-after.