I was recently diagnosed with a sleep disorder – and I couldn’t be happier about it.
But before I share why, let me tell my story.
I have a circadian rhythm disorder, which means my body clock is out of sync with my environment. Specifically, I have delayed sleep phase disorder (DSPD), where my body clock is misaligned with conventional sleep-wake hours. I also have idiopathic hypersomnia – a fancy way of saying I sleep a lot more than the average person, but it’s not clear why.
Neither diagnosis was surprising to me.
Since adolescence, I’ve struggled with sleeping and waking. I had an inkling something was wrong after I was nearly debarred from one 9am class in polytechnic for oversleeping every lecture. I attempted to seek treatment in 2017 but gave up after finding no leads and later becoming preoccupied with university.
Uni offered a flexibility that kept my condition dormant (there’s a reason I’m in academia). But recent events have reminded me that the flexibility I’ve enjoyed will not last forever. Besides, my haphazard way of life could do with some improvement. That resolution brought me to the doctor’s office, a sleep study, and where we are now.
So what’s the deal, really?
baby g’s diary 
hi gwyneth, i recently stumbled across (luckily!) your blog, and this post, unfortunately is relatable to the situation I am currently facing. i don’t know if insomnia can be developed, but most certainly, i have been plagued with the consequences of my insomniac nights. sometimes i go to bed at 10pm, toss and turn, and truth be told, its infuriating. i thought that my condition was mainly due to stress but nonono. i’ve tried to tell my parent about it and long story short, they dont believe a word i say. that why psyc is so interesting to me, how my problems could be linked to psychological problems ( not self diagnosing). but i just popped on here to say that, THANK YOU, at least i have an inkling of hope that someone out there understands me:). best of luck for your masters and hopefully, this time next year, ill be a baby freshman at ntu studying psychology!
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Hey Rae, thanks so much for popping by and sharing your story. I’m happy that we could connect through this, and I hope that you’ll be able to find something that works for you as I did. Wishing you the best in your application and hope to see you around as a psychology undergraduate 😛
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