Delayed Phase Sleep
Sleep pathology in adolescents

This is the most common sleep disorder in adolescents. It is a disorder characterized by a delay in the major episode of sleep in relation to the normal schedule, resulting in symptoms of insomnia that are expressed in the form of difficulty initiating sleep or difficulties in waking up at the desired time. Once sleep has begun, the adolescent does not have difficulties in maintaining it.

The typical young person with this disorder is one who goes to bed at 3 or 4 in the morning because he is not sleepy before. At this time he falls asleep easily and if he were allowed to sleep, he would wake up spontaneously 8-9 hours later. But the dramatic thing is that, due to school needs, parents usually wake up the young person 3/4 hours after he has started to sleep. He resists, creates a clear social distortion and when he manages to get up his performance is very poor. And the problem is that this happens every day. For this reason, when he is allowed to sleep on the weekends, he can sleep up to 15 hours in a row, in an attempt to make up for what he has not slept, although he never fails to achieve a satisfactory state. It has been proven that only 20 to 25% of lost sleep is recovered.

The characteristics of their disorder consist of difficulties in initiating sleep before 2-3 in the morning (normally they tend to do so between 2 and 6 hours), and they find it very difficult to get up before 12-13 in the afternoon. They complain of insomnia when falling asleep and excessive sleepiness when getting up. They tend to be individuals who are poorly described as night owls or lazy and are generally poorly regarded within society. They tend to be sleepy mainly in the morning. Generally, they are people who feel more active in the second part of the day (afternoon-night), associating this with greater well-being.

The only effective treatment is the one carried out in the Sleep Units and consists of applying Chronotherapy, delaying bedtime every day until it coincides with the desired time again. It must be accompanied by Light Therapy and administration of Melatonin. Once the appropriate schedules have been achieved, strict social routines and healthy sleep habits are essential to keep the child’s sleep stable, within the social habits of the family group.