Growing Up With Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS)

Delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS) is a known sleep rhythm disorder. Most people with this disorder find it impossible to fall asleep until certain early morning hours. My theory for the disorder includes that it is a learned behavior. It is estimated that 3 of every 2000 adults have the disorder and severe conditions of the case will delay a person's sleep up to 4 hours. These people of course try to avoid jobs and appointments that follow society's 9 to 5 hours. Due to this, DSPS is sometimes referred to as a social jet lag. Teens and pre-teens are some of the highest to be susceptible to DSPS; thought to be around 7%.