“I only fall asleep at dawn on weekends” That is not insomnia… it is ‘this syndrome’, which sleeping pills will not fix
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St. Peter's Hospital 26-07-04 00:00Main content
“I only fall asleep at dawn on weekends” — that is not insomnia… it is ‘this syndrome’, and sleeping pills will not help
Reporter Kim Kyung-rim
Posted 2026/07/04 21:30
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Photo: Clipart Korea
Not being able to sleep does not automatically mean insomnia. It may be delayed sleep phase syndrome, caused by irregular sleep habits. Hong Seung-bong, Director of the Epilepsy & Sleep Center at St. Peter's Hospital and a neurology specialist, explained, “It is a phenomenon in which the sleeping window is pushed back into the early hours, so that sleep only comes at two or three in the morning.” With delayed sleep phase syndrome, people usually fall asleep at 2-3 a.m. and wake at 9-10 a.m.
To tell whether it is delayed sleep phase syndrome or insomnia, symptoms should be watched at the weekend. On weekdays people have no choice but to get up at a fixed time for school or work, but at the weekend they invariably go to bed late and get up late. If you do not feel sleepy until 2-3 a.m., find it hard to get up in the morning, feel drowsy all morning even when you force yourself up, and only become fully awake in the afternoon, delayed sleep phase syndrome may be suspected.
For treatment, the hospital has patients keep a sleep diary for two weeks, in order to assess their sleep habits in detail. Treatment is then carried out to advance the sleep phase, which has drifted into the early hours of the morning, to 11 p.m. Director Hong Seung-bong said, “Sleeping pills work by making the brain drowsy for a short while so that you fall asleep, so as a side effect they only leave you groggier and sleepier in the morning.” Instead of taking sleeping pills, patients take a small dose (1–2 mg) of melatonin in the evening and, after getting up, expose themselves to bright light (5,000–10,000 lux) or blue light for 30 minutes. In this way the waking time is advanced by 30 minutes each day, so that after 7 to 10 days they can fall asleep at 11 p.m. and wake up on their own at 7 a.m.
If delayed sleep phase syndrome goes unrecognized and untreated, people feel sleepy in the morning and lose concentration, so their strength and energy decline and they struggle at school and at work. The frequency of depression and anxiety rises along with it. Over the long term it can raise the risk of conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and dementia. Director Hong Seung-bong said, “Mismatched sleeping hours can also cause problems in married or family life,” adding, “One student was repeatedly late for school and ended up dropping out, so it must not be carelessly left untreated.”
Source: https://health.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2026/07/03/2026070302279.html
Reporter Kim Kyung-rim
Posted 2026/07/04 21:30
Add Health Chosun on Google
Copy article Print article Font settings
Image
Photo: Clipart Korea
Not being able to sleep does not automatically mean insomnia. It may be delayed sleep phase syndrome, caused by irregular sleep habits. Hong Seung-bong, Director of the Epilepsy & Sleep Center at St. Peter's Hospital and a neurology specialist, explained, “It is a phenomenon in which the sleeping window is pushed back into the early hours, so that sleep only comes at two or three in the morning.” With delayed sleep phase syndrome, people usually fall asleep at 2-3 a.m. and wake at 9-10 a.m.
To tell whether it is delayed sleep phase syndrome or insomnia, symptoms should be watched at the weekend. On weekdays people have no choice but to get up at a fixed time for school or work, but at the weekend they invariably go to bed late and get up late. If you do not feel sleepy until 2-3 a.m., find it hard to get up in the morning, feel drowsy all morning even when you force yourself up, and only become fully awake in the afternoon, delayed sleep phase syndrome may be suspected.
For treatment, the hospital has patients keep a sleep diary for two weeks, in order to assess their sleep habits in detail. Treatment is then carried out to advance the sleep phase, which has drifted into the early hours of the morning, to 11 p.m. Director Hong Seung-bong said, “Sleeping pills work by making the brain drowsy for a short while so that you fall asleep, so as a side effect they only leave you groggier and sleepier in the morning.” Instead of taking sleeping pills, patients take a small dose (1–2 mg) of melatonin in the evening and, after getting up, expose themselves to bright light (5,000–10,000 lux) or blue light for 30 minutes. In this way the waking time is advanced by 30 minutes each day, so that after 7 to 10 days they can fall asleep at 11 p.m. and wake up on their own at 7 a.m.
If delayed sleep phase syndrome goes unrecognized and untreated, people feel sleepy in the morning and lose concentration, so their strength and energy decline and they struggle at school and at work. The frequency of depression and anxiety rises along with it. Over the long term it can raise the risk of conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and dementia. Director Hong Seung-bong said, “Mismatched sleeping hours can also cause problems in married or family life,” adding, “One student was repeatedly late for school and ended up dropping out, so it must not be carelessly left untreated.”
Source: https://health.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2026/07/03/2026070302279.html