Naturally Nocturnal Humans

Excuse spelling misstakes, it's not my motherlanguage.

This topic is not much discussed and should be brought to light, or darkness .

There are many people that are naturally nocturnal. Even science begins to acknowledge that. Most don't realize they are designed that way by nature and struggle on and off with it. And most of society are completly ignorant about it. They call us lazy, evil, drug addicts and so forth. Doctors prescribe us „medicine“ thats supposed to help us, afterall they think it's a sickness and we can change our rythm if we just wanted to.

The truth is most of us tried really hard to change it, but it doesn't work. Trying to live like „day people“ only makes us sick. We feel like sleepwalking zombies if we have to get up in the morning. We never reach our full potential till the sun goes down. Personally im most active at around 10pm till 5am.

This ignorance leads to lots of unneded problems for us. We can get bad grades in school, can't have all the jobs others can have. Many places like bars, clubs, ect. have to close early. We have to be silent when we do stuff in our home, music has to be quiet ect. And if we are out late night we can be very fast be supected to be a criminal. Many of us are a little lonely. It's not very easy to find somone to share the nights with, atleast im not very lucky in that department. My husband could be nocturnal, but is forced to get up early for his job.

We are not lazy or anything bad, we just have a different rythm and should have the same rights and oppurtunities as everyone else.

Here are some links:
www.associatedcontent.com...
www.geocities.com...

Heres my personal story:

I had to spend most of my childhood in a children's home because my mother got sick and couldn't care for me. It was led by nuns, and they were very strict about when to go to bed, and it was always very early, around 8pm. Most of the night's i've found myself just laying in the bed, making up fantasy stories with stuffed animals and would only fall asleep very late. Then through the day i was never feeling to well, felt more like a dream and on autopilot.

When i was 13 i got back to my mother, wich was well enough to care for me, but had a daytime job, so i was pretty much alone all the time and had not many resctrictions. For the first time i had my own tv in my room, wich only led me to watch tv till very late. I remember the best friend i had back then, he was also nocturnal and only a block away. So either of us would knock on anothers window at night and we were off to walk around or do stuff. It was beautiful to be able to do more at night then just laying quiet in bed watching tv, not to disturb anyone who was asleep. Walking around at night just feels like pure bliss to me, it's quiet, peaceful, the moonlight is refreshing and i feel so much more alive, all the struggle and stress falls off.

Of course beeing up all night didn't help with school. Every night i would get to little sleep and would almost always be to late for school. It was so hard to get up. I couldn't understand why we have to get up at such an ungodly hour. When i was in school i would be sitting at the window, staring, struggling to stay awake and follow the teacher. Each year i was giving up the struggle more and more, afterall i couldn't concentrate anyway. So i would most of the time listen to music, take a nap, or disturb others. I started to smoke to stay awake. Of course my grades got worse and worse (and my iq is around 140) , everything felt like a waste of time, i got depressed and into drugs. Drugs at least got me some joy out of life at that time. One day i just broke down. Stopped completly to go to school, got anxiety and all kind of problems . Took me years to recover, but atleast i didn't have to get up early everyday for school anymore.

[edit on 20-3-2010 by Nightflower]

[edit on 20-3-2010 by Nightflower]

Now im 28, have a husband and atleast some sort of normal life. Only a few days ago i discovered that there even are nocturnal people, and that it's not alway their choice. Since then i arranged my life to meet my body's needs as much as possible. I go to bed at 6 am now, make hubby breakfest then sleep, i get up at around 4-5pm. And i tell you i feel so much better already. My depression has lifted, i don't have trouble finding strenght to do stuff at day, like home cleaning ect., i now do it at night. I don't have to wonder why im so lazy at day, i now know why. I also know that if i find a job, it has to be a night shift. Of course there are still appoinments that i have to go to at early day hours, but i guess i can manage them. Atleast no more struggle every night to force myself to sleep.

Of course i tried on and off to change my rythm, but if it worked, it was only a few days and my hour's got later and later. The older i got the less i manage to fall asleep at night. The last few times i could only take a nap for around 3 hours, no matter how exhausted i was, no matter how sleepdepriven. But when the sun rises and birds start to sing, i feel very comfortable going to sleep. I even open the windows a bit so i have some sunlight. It helps me to sleep when i know and can sense its day outside. Then i can easily sleep up to 12 hours, so it is for sure not insomania. Never had a problem sleeping at the right hours.

If i could give you any advice, then to accept to be nocturnal and rearrange your life, if possible. Forcing yourself into daylife will only make you sick in the end. It's not worth it. There's to much beauty at night to be discovered. Even if it can be a little bit lonely.

Thanks for reading this far.

Please share your thoughts, personal storys, ideas, whatever.

What can we do to wake society? How do you cope with beeing nocturnal? How do you manage to get through school. How do you manage to survive the day if you have to get up early? What are you doing against boredom at night?

I feel you! I am the same way and I couldn't stay awake in school or pay attention. Then I would take adderall to stay awake even though I don't have add then I got addicted to that and it made me twacked so I smoked a lot and then got sent to rehab. I have awlays been labeled as a slacker because of it I am glad you posted this.

I'm one of you as well. I worked third shift factory jobs for years, which worked out pretty good. (Although that means that on 9/11, I went to bed about fifteen minutes before the first plane hit. I woke up at 5:30 pm, wondering why the national news was on VH1.) Now I'm self-employed, so I totally make my own hours so unless I have a migraine, I sleep whenever I want. I also had a terrible struggle staying awake in school. I was considering taking college courses at the local community college, but then I fell asleep while a counselor was laying out some options for me. Now, if anybody wakes me up while the sun is up, I'm gonna be cranky and that's just that!

Thanks so much for your story, and something for us to think about.

While I have always just *known* and others just *accepted* that I am nocturnal, some may not know that this is natural and completely ok.

There really are as many lifestyles as there are people. And believe me, you are NOT the only one that despises mornings.

For the sake of seeing how many of us fit into this category I'll come forward to say I made the decision to go self employed years ago now for the same reasons. I still try to keep 'normal' hours a couple of times a week because I feel like I should try to fit the 'norm' and usually fail, so it is reassuring to know I'm not the only one who struggles with sleeping hours. I always used to put it down to working nights for a year because since then I never really got back into a day rhythm, but even before then I always used to stay up late and at parties when my friends started to get tired I would be feeling like I'm waking up so I guess maybe its natural for me? My girlfriend has been telling me this for years because I often get frustrated that I can't keep the same hours as most people, but I thought she was just saying it to make me feel less of a freak! 6:12am here as I post this and I'm now trying to drag myself away from browsing the forums and into bed.

Be glad that your husband is accepting of your rhythms, without giving you too much hassle about it.


I've been married a couple times before, and every one of them DESPISED my sleeping schedule and would fight me about it constantly.

No matter how much I tried to change myself, it was simply not to be. It is either sleep during the day and be up at night, or be absolutely miserable, and, after a few days of daytime wakefulness, absolutely PAINFUL. My body aches from every pore, from the joints on up.


It got so bad with one of my ex wives, that she would literally let me sleep 2-3 hours a day. I would go to bed, next thing I know, 2-3 hours passed by and she was waking me with some excuse. This went on for about a year. She THOUGHT that if i lacked sleep, I would go to bed that night at a "reasonable" time, and get onto a "normal" schedule.

Lo and behold... nope. My body is the type that will stay awake for 14-16 hours before it will let me sleep. Only times it is ever different is if I am EXTREMELY sick.


After being with her doing that for a year, my body is now terribly destroyed. I am legally blind, have arthritis in every joint, fibromyalgia, and chronic acute stomach troubles. And this is after leaving her about 6 years ago.



I am lucky at this point, however. My wife (new one lol.. well for a couple years now ) understands why my schedule is the way it is, and she refuses to wake me unless there's an emergency. she knows what i went through with my ex and doesn't want to do the same to me.


She's not entirely enthusiastic about my sleeping schedule... she's a daytimer through and through... gets up to go to work at 4am, etc. But it's only because she enjoys sleeping next to me, and misses when she can't.


Course, she suffers from serious cold butt syndrome... so maybe that's not so bad for me haha


anyhow, just wanted to toss my story in there

Forgot to add a little sidebar...


I've been this way, according to my mom, since birth basically. When I was a baby, she'd have to stay up with me all night long.



She always has understood I'm different that way. When I was in school, I had no set bedtime. She just made it clear to me that I'd have to be going to school no matter how much sleep I happened to get.


No bedtime at all? Pretty cool for a lil guy My friends were always so jealous lol

Thank you for posting some information about this! now i can show it to my mom and she'll stop bugging me about my sleep pattern i struggled for so long with this issue. trying to be a daytime person, but my body just wouldnt permit it. i think it may have been a real big contributing factor to my depression...because now that im following my body's natural rhythm, i feel a lot better, and less depressed.

What an awesome thread! I am so glad that there are others out there like me! I love to stay up all night, and slowly watch the morning start to brighten right as I go off to sleep. Sleeping during the day just works better for me.

Adventuring out at nighttime is the best. There is nobody else around to bother you, and you can walk down the street, stargazing, and enjoying the quietness and serenity that night brings. My peak energy levels are from 9pm to 4am.

ATS keeps me company late at night, and people post some really interesting things at 3am in the morning.

Originally posted by devilishlyangelic23
Thank you for posting some information about this! now i can show it to my mom and she'll stop bugging me about my sleep pattern

i struggled for so long with this issue. trying to be a daytime person, but my body just wouldnt permit it. i think it may have been a real big contributing factor to my depression...because now that im following my body's natural rhythm, i feel a lot better, and less depressed.

Yep, research information on Circadian Rhythms. It's very real, some people's are set in reverse of the rest of the folks


Print out a whole buncha stuff and throw it at her. Tell her, "SEE! I TOLD YOU IT'S REAL!" lol

reply to post by Nightflower


Whoa, you make being nocturnal sound like a bad thing. Hey, I'm nocturnal, always have been since my early teens, and have remained so to this very day. And, I've loved every minute of it.

Being nocturnal, I am able to work those late night shifts that paid higher wages. Being nocturnal I am able to go grocery shopping and have the whole store to practically to myself at 3AM. Get to park closer to the front door too. Being nocturnal I am not familiar with traffic jams. My night eye sight is better than the non-nocturnals, and I don't have those skin cancer spots all over me either, ha. Life is more peaceful at night. Quieter too. No traffic sounds, no airport jet noises. The world also seems to have just the right number of people in it at night too. Oh, and surfing the internet is faster at night (videos don't keep pausing). When you're doing stuff at night, there are fewer chances of an interruption too (phone, visitors, etc.). There are a few downsides to being nocturnal though .. the neighbors don't like ya mowing the yard at 4AM .. but I decided to make that a downside of being non-nocturnal instead, ha.

reply to post by Nightflower


I can definitely attest to this, night people do exist. I've been on the same basic sleep schedule for five years now and it usually involves going to sleep when the sun comes up and waking up around noon. Most people thought I was just lazy until I explained to them I only get the same 6-8 hours your supposed to get its just while my 6-8 takes me until afternoon some days.

I love how much easier it is to get things done while everyone's asleep, particularly because I do a lot of creative writing and it isn't easy to think with people distracting you. Sometimes people mention to me how early they get up and I just can't believe it, some people are waking up when I'm going to bed.

Thanks for sharing your story. You're not alone, there's a lot of other night owls out there.

Hooooly # thats eerily recognisable. I am an insomniac have been since I can remember... when I was little I would open my door and read by the light and got in trouble for it almost every night. When I got to high school I had all kinds of trouble sleeping and some could be from new stress...

I got 30-60 mins less sleep on average each year of high school, til I was averaging 4.5 hours a night in gr. 12. I have long been able to go without sleep/food though and I just consider it toughening my body really...

I totally know what you mean by being bored and pissed having to conform to everyones idea of normal... like in the military you get up wayyyy early, I generally go to bed between 6-11 am usually 7 or 8 though.

Im the opposite of you though I need darkness to sleep!

I wish I could find a partner who did the same, all gfs have been not too keen about it lol when Im wired at 5am several hours after theyve passed out...

Nocturnal here too! So is my husband, so it works for us, granted our friends and family don't really get it, we both work 3rd, are our most productive between around 10pm till around 6 am, and we sleep around 7 hrs if no one bothers us. I gave up years ago trying to work a 1st or 2nd shift job, I cannot get up early because I can't make myself go to sleep at night, I would just lay there. 2nd shift seemed feasible, but I would go into work feeling really tired, and by the time I got off I was at my 'waking up' point when I really needed to go to bed. I went through trying to take sleeping meds, not good for me. So I love things they way they are, and we use a 'day sleeper' sign on the front door now to keep away anyone who would disturb us. We blackened our bedroom windows and you cannot tell if it is day or night once you are in there. I think it is a matter of making your job and lifestyle fit your body's need.

WOW, this hits home. I have never been able to sleep when its dark. it doesn't matter what time I get up, I go to bed at sunrise. I used to take otc medication to get on a normal schedule and still wanted to sleep during the day. I now have a second shift job that works perfect for me. I get home when I am wide awake, and able to focus. I also do online school so that I can do it when I want. I thought I had a problem, but somehow I knew this was normal. my fiance thinks I am crazy for no sleeping at night. she goes to sleep at the same time every night, 10 pm. I wonder what causes this. my parents used to call it cat hours. during high school I would stay up all night, and get maybe an hour or two of sleep. then I would sleep all day at school. straight A's. they didn't understand. some people are just nocturnal. good to know I am not crazy.

Fpr those of you that are "nocturnal" that's all fine and dandy but just know that your body, specifically your pineal gland changes serotonin to melatonin only while you sleep at night.

en.wikipedia.org...

Originally posted by ScRuFFy63
Fpr those of you that are "nocturnal" that's all fine and dandy but just know that your body, specifically your pineal gland changes serotonin to melatonin only while you sleep at night.

en.wikipedia.org...

Obviously the point of this thread is that people have come to realize their "Circadian rhythm" is not the same as most people's...

reply to post by ScRuFFy63


I have to say then that I must not need it. I sleep well and am a very upbeat person. I do not use drugs, I do use hemp, I have since I was 13, I am considered to be articulate, prompt, thourough, honest, hardworking, and the favorite aunt, niece, sister, and friend to many. So what do you think I am missing because of my pineal gland?

reply to post by Nightflower


Well, I'm bipolar and take medication to fall asleep. If I don't take it, I can be up for 24 hours before I start looking at the clock after yawning and such.

When I do sleep, it's for around 12 hours. So, eventually, my sleep schedule flip flops all over again, and I'm awake during the day. I absolutely do not like any light when I sleep. Of course, that's very difficult to cope with if you have to wake during the night, and besides, there's always a bit creeping in from the windows. Anyway, I don't have any specific time that I sleep. It's more "when I get sleepy, I sleep" and that's it. When I have appointments, of course like anyone else, it is a chore to wake up after not getting as much as I want and waking up when I feel rested and the medication has worn off.

Anyway, one thing I like about being awake at night is that it's quiet. When I'm asleep during the day, usually the daytime noises aren't enough to wake me up, so I'm glad to have it quiet when I'm awake and be unaware of the noise while I'm sleeping during the day. I prefer to be alone and don't like the phone ringing or anything. The internet is my preferred communication venue.

It's hard to even think about any rhythm when my sleep is so affected by medication that stays in my system and affects me for 12 hours. I have tried to wake up in the mornings and fall asleep at night, but it's hard to fall asleep when I'm not tired..and hard to wake up still feeling sleepy.