Problems With Sleeping

Clara001

Active member
I've been having problems sleeping since I started university and I have no idea how to fix that. I'm not sure this is a matter of depression, so I apologize if this is in the wrong section.
During holidays, my sleeping schedule looked like this: I went to bed at 4 am and slept till 4 pm, sometimes even a few hours longer. So I slept around 12 hours everyday. Now I normally have to wake up around 6 am for classes and that complicates things. On Sunday nights I usually don't sleep at all and I go through Monday feeling exhausted. I come home, make myself stay awake till 7 pm when all of the sudden I'm not tired anymore. So on Tuesdays I normally skip all the classes and sleep the entire day (around 15 hours). I wake up around 6 pm on Tuesday and then of course I don't sleep the entire night and Wednesday=Monday. It's a vicious cycle ... One night I don't sleep at all because I'm too anxious and the other "night" I sleep the entire day. During weekends I set up my alarm at 10 am so that I'd sleep only 8 hours and I could go to sleep at a proper time on Sunday night. But I just can't get out of bed. I set up 3 alarm clocks and it doesn't help. And even if I do wake up at 10 am (which sometimes happens), I still stay up at night till 5 am and sleep through entire Sunday.
So, my questions are:
1. During holidays I slept 12-16 hours everyday - is that normal? I'm 19 years old and it is said that a person my age should sleep aroung 8 hours per day ... 12 hours is "only" 4 hours more, but is it too much? Does my body really need all that sleep or is it a symptom of depression?
2. Not really a question, but do you have any useful tips for fixing my sleep schedule?

I apologize for the messy post and any gramatical errors, but I can hardly explain that in Slovene, which is my native language, let alone in English ...
 

Agent_Violet

Well-known member
Wow honey you're all over the place with your sleep schedule! It sounds like your body is so programmed for chaos that it doesn't know when to calm down and when to be awake.

The only thing I've found that works is routine. Habits to get you calmed and focused on winding down for sleep and going to bed at the same time everyday if possible.
When my husband was doing his residency he hardly ever slept. As an older adult, he now nods off to sleep every time he gets even a little relaxed bc his body is so used to grabbing any chance it can to recharge.

You may not be able to get yourself into a predictable sleep routine til you're older and done with school. Just get the sleep when you can get it until your life settles down.
 
Top