I often refer to myself as an insomniac, but I’m not. While I do suffer from insomnia from time to time, usually I am up into the wee hours from sheer stupidity. I could sleep but I just really like being up late. Consequently, I don’t get nearly enough sleep during the week. I’ve been this way my whole life.
Is this a recognized sleep disorder or am I just a dumb ass nocturnal being?
Welcome to the club.
I don’t really know if it is a sleep disorder or not. It may be because with me, no matter how little sleep I get the night previous, around 21:00 I perk up and refuse to get tired for the rest of the night.
In all probability though, the latter option seems to be more fitting for me. 
I, too, am very nocturnal. I often stay up until at least 3am. Even if I wake up very eary, I’ll stay up for twenty hours and goto bed around 3 or 4. This has caused me to fail many college courses. 
IMHO, if you want to sleep but can’t then you’ve got a sleeping disorder. If, OTOH, you just choose unusual sleep/wake patterns you are being stupid. IIRC, I have used a stupid online acronym in every sentence so far.
Inability to sleep can be a symptom of depression, although sleeping too much is probably the more common symptom. There can be chemical reasons for not sleeping. Caffeine, for example.
If it’s not interfering with your life I wouldn’t worry about it. But if it is (failing college courses, for example) it seems like it would be worthwhile to find out why. Is there a physical reason? Is there a psychological reason? It doesn’t have to be a full-blown, we-have-a-name-for-it sleep disorder to reduce the quality of your life. And although there are plenty of mysteries still remaining about how and why we sleep there are some answers too. If you’re worried ask your doctor.
For instance – you might decide, with your physician, that you can’t sleep even though you want to. A possible solution could be a mild sedative at bed time. A sleeping pill. You try it for a while and discover it makes a big difference in your life – more energy, more zip, more zest. If so, there’s probably some physical problem (chemical imbalance is a current buzzword) and you might be able to correct it.
If you want to experiment with your health (always a good idea!) you might try melatonin. There’s some evidence that it affects sleeping habits, but I can’t recall how you’re supposed to use it. Melatonin is chemically related to serotonin, which is the chemical which gets “imbalanced” in a lot of episodes of depression, which, as noted above, frequently affects your sleeping habits. Which is also why you shouldn’t take melatonin if you are taking an SSRI anti-depressant.
Or a glass of wine at bedtime might work too.
I have this same problem except for me its 20% stupidity and 80% just flat out not being able to sleep. I’m rarely asleep before 5am and ive been known to lie in bed for over 6 hours trying to sleep. I dont think its a big sleeping disorder for me though, i think i am just truly nocturnal, which is difficult when you try to juggle school and work. My parents tell me that even as an infant i was nocturnal. I started class last week though and this new system i have really seems to be working out good. I go to sleep around 3am, and wake up at 7am. I have class from 9-10:30am and get home around 11:15am or so. At noon i go back to sleep and wake up at 4pm, going to work at 5pm. This ensures that im always just tired enough to get to sleep when i need to, but not so tired that i cant make it through my daily responsibilities. 4 hours at night, 4 hours in the afternoon.
Some sleep aids that work for me…
Some sleep aids that DONT work for me…
I am so happy that I am not the only one! No, I am not an insomniac, but I choose to stay awake until 4 or 5 in the morning and sleep until mid day. I work at home so it is not a problem. I have been this way for a couple of years and my body had fallen into this cycle. I am nocturnal.
I love to sleep, it is my favorite thing. I get between 7-8 hours every day, it just happens to fall later in the day than most people’s sleep patterns. If I try to adhere to normal sleep patterns I end up staying up all night with no sleep, or sleeping a few hours to begin with and staring at the ceiling the rest of the night.
I choose not to fight it. This is the way I am. If I was working a normal 9 to 5 job I would see a doctor (… sleeping pills… BTDT), but I don’t need them. I sleep fine.
Well, thanks all, for the input. I guess I’ll sleep now.
sigh
Maybe I’ll come back tomorrow to make some useful comments on your posts.
It’s called nightowlishness and I should know well. I am definitely not a morning person.
Yeah, I do that too. I don’t know why. It never turns out well, but I just don’t feel comfortable going to bed earlier than about 2AM. Right now, it’s almost dawn, and I’m still up for no good reason.
Been there - done that… Hell I’m still doing that!
It’s not healthy and I know it but’s it the way I am. When I get puttering around with something it’s difficult to realize the need for sleep even if I’m tired (yeah I know… it is as stupid as it sounds). It’s really an issue of discipline. You’ve got to put the keyboard down at a specific time and trudge off to bed.
There is a fancy name for it: Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. That link describes it was a “disorder”, but I suspect is a simple, normal, and not invaluable, genetic variation. Early humans would have welcomed the presence of someone who willingly stayed up through the night and who could wake the rest of the village if danger appeared. That extreme sleep patterns can have a genetic basis is discussed here (but this site is mostly about extreme early birds).
I’m not surprised at the genetic complement. My paternal grandfather and my maternal grandmother were both night owls, and my brother and I are too. My advice would be not to fight it, but to go with the flow. As much as possible, try to schedule work and classes for the hours when it feels most natural for you to be awake. Unfortunately, this is not always possible.
I too am up most of the night. I am lucky that my job allows me to be up till 4 or 5 am easterntime. I work noon-9 and find I am more alert in the wee hours than I am the rest of the day