This is actually considered a sleep disorder rather than a true case of insomnia, because again, the teenager has retained the ability to sleep soundly for long periods of time, but the timing of the sleep gets pushed later and later.Īdults can also have DSPS, but it is far more common in adolescents. When this fairly normal adolescent sleeping pattern gets a lot worse, it acquires a new name - delayed sleep phase syndrome or DSPS. Usually, that schedule is just not acceptable in the real world, so it turns into real insomnia - because of the “inability to get to sleep” becomes much more of a problem when you have to get up at 7:00 instead of 10:00.
#Insomnia cures for teenagers full
Since insomnia is defined as the inability to get to sleep and stay asleep, a simple late sleeper does not really have teenage insomnia in the fullest sense - they can generally sleep fine and put in a full 8-9 hours if allowed to do so. This means that they can’t go to bed late and get up early even if their circadian rhythms cooperated - they are simply too tired. And added to this is the reality that teenagers still need a lot of sleep, about 9 hours for optimal health, growth, mood and functioning. School starts at 8:00 or 8:30, but the teenager’s body rhythms would prefer 11:00 to 11:30. Of course teenage schedules and teenage biorhythms don’t match up too well. Remember that energetic child who used to run into your bedroom and pretend your bed (and possibly some of your limbs) were a trampoline? Where did he or she go? Parents can grow quite alarmed when their formally early-rising child suddenly turns into a grumpy night-owl who never wants to go to bed and is nearly impossible to arouse in the morning. No one really knows for sure what causes this type of change in sleep patterns in adolescents. It could also be the effect of hormonal changes or imbalances. (You can read more about the SCN in this article on circadian rhythm disorders.) There has been speculation about what causes this change in the biorhythms… it could have something to do with the increased activity of the pituitary and hypothalamus glands, which lie very close to the biological clock, otherwise known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus. The Biological Clock RebelsĪs kids grow into their teenage years, some unknown trigger causes them to want to go to bed very late and wake up very late, maybe around noon. If natural treatments for insomnia don’t work and stress is building daily, medical treatment may be called for. Sometimes teenage insomnia becomes severe, usually when the physical and emotional factors of insomnia are combined and increased. However, it can also improve quickly once you understand the causes and make the necessary changes and adjustments. Teenage insomnia can be a cause for much concern in parents and the teenagers themselves. All of these, of course, just makes teenage insomnia worse than ever. Once teenage insomnia gets established, many secondary causes come up, just like with adults - they may become dependent on caffeine to wake them up, their sleep schedule goes completely out of whack and sleep anxiety can kick in heavily. Insomnia.Teenage insomnia has two main primary causes: the first is changes in the biological clock (along with a lot of other new physiologic developments) that affects the sleep/wake cycle… and the other is emotional stress. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Polysomnographic sleep disturbances in nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, cocaine, opioid, and cannabis use: a focused review: polysomnographic changes in substance use. Late night snacking and its effect on sleep. Common sleep problems.Īmerican Sleep Association.
Screen time and sleep among school-aged children and adolescents: a systematic literature review. Insufficient sleep in adolescents: causes and consequences.
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