Autistic Inertia & Sleep

[chaoticidealism]

As you probably know, I've been having some severe problems at school and, as usual, my sleep schedule is at the root of it. From what I can tell, it's some kind of circadian-rhythm issue--as in, my body doesn't like a regular cycle, doesn't really know when to sleep. I hear of it happening a lot in blind people (I'm not blind) who can't see light

Comments

[anonymous]

Have you tried keeping a sleep log to see if there is an underlying pattern to when you sleep, even if it is disrupted by classes etc, or whether it is really random? I had serious problems with sleep and although I got as far as a masters degree, that is only because my student schedule was flexible. Once I tried working regular hours I was unable to continue and made so many mistakes that I had to give up, despite all the sleep hygiene attempts and despite sleeping pills. That was many years ago, now, but I remember how awful it was.

I kept a sleep log and discerned an underlying regular rhythm. When I stopped forcing myself to stick to 24hr days the rhythm was regular and robust, and ran at about 24.6 hr days, although I do sometimes entrain to 24 hr days in summer. I finally found a psychiatrist who paid attention to this and he put me in touch with some sleep specialists ( but I recommend you go to a sleep clinic if you want a formal diagnosis, as they are more likely to have heard of circadian ryhthm disorders).

They confirmed my sleep pattern by wrist actigraphy and found that my melatonin rhythm matched that of my sleep wake pattern. I do not seem to have anything wrong with my eyesight, and entrainment in summer suggested that a lightbox might help. I have used it on waking with some success, but it is unstable and I can only hold it steady for about 3 weeks, then I go around the clock again. I found that melatonin made me depressed, although it sort of stablised my sleep. After several years of trying to normalise my sleep, I am now of the opinion that the best thing is to live on my own schedule. (I get disability benefits and am studying a correspondence course and doing well). This is the general consensus of those I have met online with the condition, check out the niteowl mailing list at

http://circadiandisorders.org/

Most of the people there have DSPS and they do stick to 24 hour days but are extreme night owls. They can hold down a job with difficulty but some manage well as they work later shifts or are self-employed. There are also people with non-24 and with irregular rhythms.

btw I am on autistic spectrum too, but I do not think the problem is inertia, at least not with me, because when I am on my own schedule I do not stay up late, relative to my own rhythm.

Another thing, for me, I am a short sleeper (most of those with CRDs seem to be long sleepers) I sleep less than 6 hours in midsummer and that spaces me out, but since mid-September my sleep duration has gone back to almost 7 hours per night. You might find you sleep better now the days are shorter.

There is not an easy solution to this but I hope this gives you some ideas.

tinted