u/OldHedgehog5802

I finally got around to reading Till Roenneberg's Internal Time: Chronotypes, Social Jet Lag, and Why You're So Tired (2012). He started working with one of the founders of chronobiology, Jurgen Aschoff, at age 17, and seems to have been a wunderkind. Till will turn 73 on May 4th of 2026, so happy early b-day, Dr. Roenneberg! Till coined "social jetlag." He's had quite a career in the field. He's a friend to us, and seems like one to "know."

Maria Popova covers his ideas and the book mentioned in this article.

In this Reddit group, there's so much pain: from suffering from this disorder/syndrome, and then worse: the non-knowledge of our chronotypes by not only a given poster but the glaring ignorance (often cashing out into cruelty) we must face by those who have never had to alter sleep to conform to 9-5 ("normie") life... Including our family members and other loved ones. The sadness here seems incalculable; I'm only writing this to lessen it all by some minute portion.

(I've been a 4AM-noon person for over 50 years, and as I write this it feels like an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting: "Hi 4AM-Noon Guy!")

A very small percentage of people who post here are way ahead in knowledge of scientific papers and, in general, their own chronotype, and many have learned to accept it, develop a life around it. Most who post here are not there, are facing a withering array of social difficulties, and the agony is palpable.

Of course there is still much unknown, and everyone seems their own unique case, something that seems underrated and needs to be said. But a lot is known. Let us know what's known. It's trite but true: knowledge is power regarding DSPD.

There seems to be a big ol' freakin' hairy GAP between the scads of "how come I can't wake up rested at 7AM when I always go to sleep at 4AM is my life ruined?" and the endless variations on all this biologically-based psychological pain, and the rare Redditors who are present and their citations of some new study; they've not only learned about their DSPD in detail, but have made flourishing lives out of the odd hours it entails. A hairy gap between phenomenal-existential knowers and (relative)non-knowers.

I say: let's be aware of the middle ground of solid knowledge about the truth of this, without all the abstruse technical writing. There are now plenty of researchers who also reach out to the public. Let's make each other aware. I did a search for Till Roenneberg's name appearing in r/DSPD and found zero mentions. He deserves to be known, by all of us.

Many of us could cite other no-BS scientists who have a feel for the agony, why it is such (it's not your fault!), and what might be done to increase understanding in general and for us to be better advocates for ourselves and others with DSPD.

Matthew Walker at UC Berkeley would be another, but I just wanted to turn y'all onto Herr Doktor Professor Till Roenneberg for today. Internal Time, the 2012 book, is well worth your whiles to check out from the library and read!

In addition to being good advocates for ourselves, which requires some solid, basic scientific knowledge, I can't escape how it seems all of us must learn to re-frame this situation for ourselves in a way that helps us cope with the world. An underrated aspect - one that's merely hinted at here if you read a couple years of r/DSPD - is that, in a sense, we all become amateur scientists around our own chronotype. Make endless notes, try out new things - lots of stuff on melatonin experimentation here, for example - and continue to gather evidence, hypotheses, etc. All of our life ought to be included, because what's so agonizing about this is social assumptions that are dead wrong, or simply glaringly ignorant. Above all, never forget: this isn't your fault, but how you deal with it is something that's your responsibility.

Please cite others you think fit in here, and why, maybe a link to their work, or an interview, etc. Thanks!