"Night Owls" more likely to exhibit psychopathology?

[paralleloscope]

My mind generally feels better then, too - and physical energy level is better in the days afterward as well. But in my case, staying awake is more a matter of a second wind that doesn't let up for a number of hours. Something "switches on" and I have a lot of energy - though it feels like something else in me, which I can't define, is somehow missing.

Have you read Adrenal Fatigue by J Wilson? What you describe is a common symptom of adrenal fatigue. By staying awake after the body says it's time to sleep, the adrenals kick in and give one this second wind. But this does in fact exhaust the adrenals and leads to adrenal fatigue.

Wilson says:

When to Sleep

For people with adrenal fatigue (most people), it is important to be in bed and asleep before your second wind hits at about 11.00pm. Riding your second wind and staying up until 1.00 or 2.00 in the morning will further exhaust your adrenals, even though you may feel more energetic during that time than you have felt all day. In order to avoid this pitfall, make sure that you are in bed and on your way to sleep before 10.30pm, so that your adrenal glands do not have a chance to kick into overdrive for that second wind.

This exchange finally brought home reasoning to change my sleeping patterns. Rarely have I gone to bed before midnight (mostly 1-2 am), despite 'knowing' it's not the best of practices. Sometimes (3 times a week in some periods) when having slept in, I've stayed up for 30 hours to turn the clock around, in order get up early (around 8) and go to bed around midnight. The 'second wind' thing is really spot on, having tried going to bed before 23:00, 3 times in the last 5 days- and I really feel much better rested and naturally awake around 6 am. Thanks.

 

[Psalehesost]

As a follow-up to my previous post, I think I've also ignored an elephant in the room when it comes to sleep disturbances when here at home: stress. (And prolonged stress, of course, is also a cause of adrenal fatigue.)

I'm often tense and anxious beneath the surface - I don't so much consciously feel or suffer from it. It seems that being here, in my hometown and in my parents' house, triggers things that intensify this tension and anxiety. Somehow I didn't think of it in relation to sleep - even though, in the past, I'd already noted that it can impact digestion.

E-E would seem a natural solution to the problem of undercurrents of tension and anxiety - and it does help. A problem, though, is that the tension remains even while doing it, and that this seems to somehow prevent E-E from having the full effect in bringing calm and emotional release. Another thing that helps is journaling - in conjunction with, for a while, laying down in my bed, loading up on nicotine, and contemplating in a focused way. (The nicotine intensifies memory retrieval and also prevents the mind from running out of energy, thus making it possible to go on until "done".) The latter brings me to ideas and conclusions to write about - which in turn further settles the issues on my mind, and significantly reduces the built-up tension. In turn, both contemplation and writing depend, in significant part, on both new experience, and taking in new knowledge which I can connect with experience past and present.


The role of this stress under the surface was driven home yesterday, when it seems negative self-judgment along with concerns (which always remain in the unconscious mind, whether thought about at present or not) regarding what I feel I must accomplish in short order, and fears connected to these, massively ramped up the tension. The result was something that hasn't occurred in a long time - intensified emotional dissociation. Feeling somehow "beside myself", not centered in myself, as if "outside" my own emotions. Contemplation, journaling, POTS, and then some sleep fixed that.

The build-up can be seen in my sleep pattern the last few days - very unusual for me, I woke up feeling alert after just a few hours of sleep. Then, eventually, I had digestive issues and began to feel sick, until I finally got the sleep I needed.

More generally, underlying tension and anxiety gives a sense of urgency - and I think this is what has tended to keep me awake and active even when I should sleep. So dealing with these basic emotional issues is probably key to improving sleep for me.

 

[Andrian]

I'm working 3-5 nights a week(10 PM - 6 AM ,I'm going to bed at 07:30 AM ),when I'm not working i find it hard to adjust the internal clocks and to go to sleep at 11 pm ,usually I'm awake till 2-3 am, what i can say is that yeas such a schedule its not healthy,often i feel depressed ,more sensitive to stress sometimes even irritated,so i completely agree that it affects your behavior ,but also I'm aware that if you want to be healthy you can change your habits(by applying some useful tools),it's not impossible, for example doing EE helps a lot to clear my mind and reduce the stress,POTS before sleeping but it's not enough,in fact thank you Laura for opening this thread and thank you all who participated in this thread, thanks to you all i decided for myself when I'm not working to go to sleep early and wake up early, i don't want anymore to have this anxiety,stress or frustration,definitely will love to change this unhealthy behavior of mine.
P.S.
Its already 11:31 PM ,will be not easy to change,but definitely i want to try to do it.