What Is the Difference Between Insomnia and Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder?

Insomnia is the difficulty of falling asleep, staying asleep and falling back asleep. DSPD has similar symptoms, but with DSPD a person does not sleep at conventional times. Watch this video to learn the differences between insomnia and DSPD.

Transcript

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The difference between insomnia and delayed sleep phase disorder is subtle because oftentimes

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those with delayed sleep phase disorder will have insomnia as well. So to define "insomnia," insomnia

00:12

is the difficulty falling asleep as well as oftentimes difficulties staying asleep and falling back asleep

00:19

or waking up early in the morning. Those with delayed sleep phase disorder will have the same problem, which is difficulties falling asleep.

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However, those with delayed sleep phase disorder are different than those with-- typically with insomnia because they're not sleepy at conventional times.

00:33

Invariably, those people, though, will develop behaviors which are what we refer to as sleep prohibitive,

00:40

where they'll be unable to fall asleep because they feel a pressure to sleep. And they'll engage in these sleep prohibitive behaviors

00:46

and develop insomnia that's superimposed on the backdrop of the delayed timing of sleep.