Historically, society has sung the praises of early risers, but we live in a post-industrial world and the utility of such a deeply-engrained belief no longer applies, posits American Council on Science and Health.

According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, people with DSPD display sleep stability if they are allowed to follow their preferential sleep pattern. Many of these people often seek treatment for chronic insomnia and visit sleep clinics and make up roughly 10 percent of sleep clinic patients.

Individuals who deal with this condition may inappropriately turn to chemical aids, such as stimulants or downers to help them maintain wakefulness, or induce sleep to override their circadian clock, and this has the potential for developing substance use disorders down the road among many other negative coping methods.

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