I had a relative who went into some really scary psychotic episodes. She did some very upsetting things, was just really really mentally unhinged. Long story short, it was finally determined that years of working rotating shifts as a nurse had induced her mental state. Once she finally got her sleep schedules regulated, she went back to normal.
I worked straight night shift as a nurse for six months after I graduated from nursing school. After I almost fell asleep driving home and also made a relatively harmless but still disturbing (to me anyway) med error at 2:00 am, my boss heard me out and agreed I needed to go to day shift. I am just not wired to stay up all night. I would get light headed and really nauseated every single night at 2 or 3 am.
I’ve always been a night owl (as are both my kids). My mom would get so frustrated trying to wake me in the morning for school. When I was in HS, she resorted to threatening me with my brother’s squirt gun. Once she even made good on that threat.
As I’ve gotten older, my internal clock has shifted somewhat due to my work schedule. I’m looking forward to retirement so I can resume my nocturnal ways.
How timely is this thread! H and I are night owls. I am worse than him. The kids know not to call until late on weekends. We both just retired. It is really hard to go to bed at night. I just have so much things I want to do. I went to bed at 2 am last night. So, what is interesting about this is that we just visited with friends who are also newly retired. They said ‘Yes, we are trying to put ourselves on a schedule, too’ . What we realized was that we were talking about the same thing but the opposite. They said that they go to bed early and get up really early and it is a problem when they visit with people and start yawning at 7 PM. I think this schedule change may be fairly common. I spoke with another friend who has to ‘put herself on a curfew’. I tried setting my phone alarm at 10 pm to remind myself to go to bed but I just ignored it. I am not sure where this is going and maybe it will straighten out in the fall when it gets darker earlier.
I am another night owl married to an early bird. I have always functioned better later in the day and into the wee hours of the morning. Even as a really little kid I used to read under the covers until well after midnight and my Mom always had a horrible time getting me out the door in the morning. I actually enjoy taking walks with the dogs much more late at night than I do in the daytime. It is very quiet and relaxing and I don’t run into anybody. Over the years I have learned to function within the hours of “normal” people out of necessity- getting kids to school and working, but I definitely am much more efficient starting in the late afternoon and can get so much more accomplished if I stay up until 2 or 3 AM. My husband is up at 5 or 6 even on the weekends and usually in bed by 10. I love it when he travels and I can do projects until very late at night and not worry about noise. Of our 4 kids, 3 are more like me and 1 is like him. He still thinks there is something wrong with me but after 35 years, he is used to it.
^ I am extremely luck that Mr R sleeps like a rock. He sleeps through everything. I don’t know what I’d do if I had to be quiet during my most productive hours…
But isn’t the wisdom that we need to sleep during nocturnal hours? And the more recent info that you really do need roughly 7 hours to not fall prey to various elder illnesses? I’m working on earlier to bed. G’night.
Oh and ps, I’ve heard sleep deprivation can mimic some dementia symptoms.
takeitallin, you have described me to a T! I also walk the dog around midnight and work on crafts into the wee hours, esp when DH is on the road. He leaves town tomorrow am and I have the next five days planned for serious sewing. I have a wedding chuppah to finish!
Just returned from walking the dog. She loves it as much as I do. The wind and temperature is so delightful.
H just went to bed–10:30 here.
It is true that a person can become psychotic after 48-72 hours of no sleep.
But sleeping night owl hours has nothing to do with that. And I think that the wisdom of what hours we
are “suppose” to sleep is finally corrected. You just cannot tell someone what their natural sleep schedule
is …just tell my husband that he must stay up until 2 or try to get me to sleep earlier…
Remember when we all knew that you cannot make a kid eat, sleep or go potty?
I never realized there are so many night owls. If it’s possible, I used to be one too. I looked forward to listening to the late-night radio talk shows that went on around midnight. Had a 7 pm to 4 am job and got to sleep before the sun came up. Had my morning coffee watching my son’s after-school high school baseball games, and wondered why all the other parents were screaming like banshees on every pitch.
But now that I’m retired it’s early to bed and early to rise. After recent surgery I usually wake up around 5 am to 6:30 am.
No, early to bed early to rise for both of us (and my kids when they were at home), generally H sleeps 10-5 and I’m 11-6. He can rally to party at night with friends, me, not so much. If I have dinner and drinks, I’m ready to head home by 11. Often we’ll have BBQs here with horseshoes and a firepit and my H will stay up until the last person is ready to leave…I slip away and go to bed. I’ve garnered a reputation for “disappearing” lol.
If I could sleep how I want, I would probably go to bed around 2-3am and wake up between 10 and 11 am. For me it’s bad because I am a night owl who likes a lot of sleep. So if I am going to get at least 7 hrs I have to make sure I am asleep around 1130pm.
Husband and 2 of 3 kids are also naturally night owls. During the summer I still encourage my 15 yo to at least go to his room by midnight even if he is up reading much later (school year it is room at 10pm but he is often still puttering about at midnight). Youngest goes to bed earliest and wakes up earliest but now that school’s out that might be bed at midnight and awake at 830am.
I am naturally a night owl (and I am noticing my son is as well), my natural rhythm was probably when I worked second shift my first job out of school, was technically 3-11,used to get home , then go to bed around 4, then wake up at 11. Even now it can be hard to get to sleep by 11, I have to get up at 6:30 with my commute and such, so often I am working on less than optimal sleep. I can remember times during the summer in high school, or when home from college, when I would be up the entire night tinkering with a car, once replaced a set of springs on all 4 wheels and shocks working until 5am one night:)
Night owl. Midnight would be early, 10 am typical. I can stay up even later although tired if it is to watch a movie on TV or, more commonly, finish a book. I still remember how my parents sent us to bed before dark, couldn’t sleep. My mom was a night owl as well. Hated the early aspect of being an anesthesiologist, the surgeons wanted to get done in the OR and go to their offices but that left us with nothing to do in the later afternoons! Son fortunately a night owl- none of that getting up at the crack of dawn business. Needed to get up in time for 9 am elementary school (and earlier later on). H used to turn off the bedroom TV at 11 when I needed to try to sleep at 10 for many years. Then he got up earlier to take son to HS and went to bed earlier- but I wasn’t working and would have enjoyed the late night TV (central time zone- matters for shows, especially the news).
We sometimes give our neighbors here rides to/from the airport- nearly 20 miles away. H will do morning trips, I’ll do the evening/night ones while the other one sleeps.