# Sleep Adjustment



## coeus (Jan 11, 2010)

Hey all,

I don't know if this topic fits into this room but it's as close as I could think of. I've been sleeping at around 3-5am and end up sleeping for 10-12 hours which obviously, is quite excessive. Has anyone had any luck becoming an early riser and resetting their sleeping habits? Any tips at all?

I wish it were as easy as telling yourself sleep early, sleep less and wake up early!

Thanks everyone. Appreciate it.


----------



## insaticiable (Feb 23, 2010)

Hi there, I am in the same boat as you. I know that I had replied to Katezorz's post about my unhealthy sleeping habits, and you mentioned you were experiencing the same. One rather odd piece of advice that I had received from a professional was to extend your sleeping hours, instead of trying to reduce or pull it back. Basically he was saying to let your sleeping hours go clockwise as it would naturally, instead of pushing it back and trying to go counterclockwise. So, if you were to wake up at let's say 2 or 3 in the afternoon, you wake up an hour later each day and keep doing this until you reach the regular sleeping time (10 or 11). He said this would take 10-15 days, but that you would eventually go back to regular sleep times. I dont know if this makes sense at all, I know I had a hard time grasping it, and I never tried it myself, but it might be worth a shot. For me, I find myself more awake and alert at night than during the day, and this makes it harder to fall asleep. Its just become habit, you know?


----------



## coeus (Jan 11, 2010)

insaticiable said:


> Hi there, I am in the same boat as you. I know that I had replied to Katezorz's post about my unhealthy sleeping habits, and you mentioned you were experiencing the same. One rather odd piece of advice that I had received from a professional was to extend your sleeping hours, instead of trying to reduce or pull it back. Basically he was saying to let your sleeping hours go clockwise as it would naturally, instead of pushing it back and trying to go counterclockwise. So, if you were to wake up at let's say 2 or 3 in the afternoon, you wake up an hour later each day and keep doing this until you reach the regular sleeping time (10 or 11). He said this would take 10-15 days, but that you would eventually go back to regular sleep times. I dont know if this makes sense at all, I know I had a hard time grasping it, and I never tried it myself, but it might be worth a shot. For me, I find myself more awake and alert at night than during the day, and this makes it harder to fall asleep. Its just become habit, you know?


Yeah, mate. I know what you mean. The first few hours after waking up are horrible and it gets slightly better with each hour thereafter. I still feel slightly fatigued throughout the night though, most likely due to the fact that we oversleep and our circadian rhythms are totally whack. Seriously though, I woke up at 4-5pm today!

Oh, the methodology you're referring to is called chronotherapy. Sounds neat huh? I suppose it won't hurt to give it a shot.

Were you formerly an early-riser though, insaticiable?


----------



## insaticiable (Feb 23, 2010)

coeus said:


> Yeah, mate. I know what you mean. The first few hours after waking up are horrible and it gets slightly better with each hour thereafter. I still feel slightly fatigued throughout the night though, most likely due to the fact that we oversleep and our circadian rhythms are totally whack. Seriously though, I woke up at 4-5pm today!
> 
> Oh, the methodology you're referring to is called chronotherapy. Sounds neat huh? I suppose it won't hurt to give it a shot.
> 
> Were you formerly an early-riser though, insaticiable?


Yeh, when I first wake up I feel exhausted, tired, slughtly depressed, and the DP is very strong at that time. Between the hours of 5-7 p.m is when my DP is at its worst, but I find that as the night progresses I start to feel better, and the DP is in the background. Around this time though, is when I feel extremely alert, awake, and slightly energized. Funny how that should be the way I feel when I wake up, not before I go to bed. It's definitely the oddness of the cycle that makes me feel like this. I wake up anywhere from 1-3 p.m, no later, but I find it extremely difficult to function with less than 11-12 hours of sleep. I know that a healthy amount of sleep should be anywhere from 7-8 hours, yet recently, my body and mind cannot function with that amount.

That makes sense! Chronotherapy sounds like chronologically haha.

I was formerly an early-riser back when I went to school, but recently with no plans during the day, I end up sleeping for most of it. The earliest I have woken up recently has been 11 a.m, no sooner than that. Hopefully, I will one day get to a point where I get up in the A.M, not the P.M.

Where are you from btw? Im guessing Australia, just because you called me mate lol.


----------



## coeus (Jan 11, 2010)

insaticiable said:


> Yeh, when I first wake up I feel exhausted, tired, slughtly depressed, and the DP is very strong at that time. Between the hours of 5-7 p.m is when my DP is at its worst, but I find that as the night progresses I start to feel better, and the DP is in the background. Around this time though, is when I feel extremely alert, awake, and slightly energized. Funny how that should be the way I feel when I wake up, not before I go to bed. It's definitely the oddness of the cycle that makes me feel like this. I wake up anywhere from 1-3 p.m, no later, but I find it extremely difficult to function with less than 11-12 hours of sleep. I know that a healthy amount of sleep should be anywhere from 7-8 hours, yet recently, my body and mind cannot function with that amount.
> 
> That makes sense! Chronotherapy sounds like chronologically haha.
> 
> ...


Everything you've described sounds exactly what I'm going through. On the bright side though, every time I do wake up - I end up exercising to shake off the weariness. It actually helps, yet I make sure that I don't overdo it since we're all anxiety-bound so logically, it's probably not best to add to the emotional, mental and in this case, physical fatigue. Although many people here have cut caffeine completely out of their ritual, I still have my morning coffee. I still need that little perk haha.

Yep, you're right. I'm from Australia. Here I thought "mate" was commonly used and not linguistically restricted.

Well, in terms of sleeping habits - one step at a time ey?


----------



## insaticiable (Feb 23, 2010)

coeus said:


> Everything you've described sounds exactly what I'm going through. On the bright side though, every time I do wake up - I end up exercising to shake off the weariness. It actually helps, yet I make sure that I don't overdo it since we're all anxiety-bound so logically, it's probably not best to add to the emotional, mental and in this case, physical fatigue. Although many people here have cut caffeine completely out of their ritual, I still have my morning coffee. I still need that little perk haha.
> 
> Yep, you're right. I'm from Australia. Here I thought "mate" was commonly used and not linguistically restricted.
> 
> Well, in terms of sleeping habits - one step at a time ey?


Oh really? What kind of exercises do you do? I've read by a couple of people on here that when they exercise, their depersonalization and derealization becomes worse, i dont know exactly why this is, but perhaps of the strenuous activity. So, I am a little hesitant to try it out, but it seems like it would be a good idea in terms of waking one up.

Yes, definitely one step a time. Are you going to try out the method I suggested? I know it seems a bit strange, but perhaps it may work in the end. Generally it is known for people to just go to sleep earlier and wake up earlier, but how are we supposed to change a habit that has been so deeply ingrained in our daily routine?


----------



## insaticiable (Feb 23, 2010)

Btw, what time is it there? Im not sure what the time differences are.


----------



## coeus (Jan 11, 2010)

It's 10:10 PM. And over where you are?


----------



## insaticiable (Feb 23, 2010)

Oh gawd, it's much later here lol. 4:15 a.m. Definitely the latest ive stayed up in awhile. Is it 10:10 p.m Friday night, or Saturday night?


----------



## coeus (Jan 11, 2010)

insaticiable said:


> Oh really? What kind of exercises do you do? I've read by a couple of people on here that when they exercise, their depersonalization and derealization becomes worse, i dont know exactly why this is, but perhaps of the strenuous activity. So, I am a little hesitant to try it out, but it seems like it would be a good idea in terms of waking one up.
> 
> Yes, definitely one step a time. Are you going to try out the method I suggested? I know it seems a bit strange, but perhaps it may work in the end. Generally it is known for people to just go to sleep earlier and wake up earlier, but how are we supposed to change a habit that has been so deeply ingrained in our daily routine?


Woops, I neglected to see two posts from you. It's obviously really difficult when you're feeling sluggish in the morning but once I've stood up, the only thing that comes to mind is to go for a 10 minute jog. The fact that I've quit smoking also acted a real good catalyst to maintain some form of exercise. The realisation that I could breathe without feeling drawn-out and feel like shit after was an eye-opener for me to start exercising. I do a little yoga in the morning, a 10-minute jog, sometimes a bike ride if I'm up for it and I play badminton with my friends every week.

I could only be speculating here but I think the derealisation comes from the prolonged fear of being in public. All the stimulus from the environment causes exaggerated anxiety as we keep questioning the objects around us and it's self-perpetuating to exercise outdoors. You might be right about the strenuous exercise; it's best to start off light - it gives you a nice little mood-elevator. It might not be fun in the beginning but once you start realising that there's nothing to fear, it becomes second nature. I still have my hiccups but the fear has diminished a little and I'm enjoying exercise ever more than before. If everything was easy, we wouldn't learn a thing.

As for sleep, I might try your method. I'm lucky to be studying and working part-time so I could probably experiment a little. I'll let ya know if I do or if I have any success in changing my sleeping habits. I believe it can be changed but just like any habit, reconditioning is necessary. And that's the hard part, probably needless to say. _Almost_ all habits can be broken. I use "almost" because I don't want to risk offending anyone whose had a long-term habit who have tirelessly tried to change it.

Do you have a night job though?


----------



## coeus (Jan 11, 2010)

insaticiable said:


> Oh gawd, it's much later here lol. 4:15 a.m. Definitely the latest ive stayed up in awhile. Is it 10:10 p.m Friday night, or Saturday night?


lol 4:15 AM. Night owls, yeahh!

It's a Saturday night over here and I've just had a red bull. There goes my 'wanting to sleep early' plan. Pfft!


----------



## codeblue213 (Feb 15, 2010)

I've been very anxious lately, so I'm up most of the day and all night. I'm lucky if I get 4 hours sleep a day. I'm always afraid my symptoms will get worse if I sleep too much.


----------



## coeus (Jan 11, 2010)

codeblue213 said:


> I've been very anxious lately, so I'm up most of the day and all night. I'm lucky if I get 4 hours sleep a day. I'm always afraid my symptoms will get worse if I sleep too much.


What's been worrying you, blue?


----------

