Do you feel better at night or in the morning?

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How come I generally feel much better at night ( after 18 ) than in the morning ( before 12 )?

I've heard others on the spectrum feel this way too.

Is it due to the chemical balance in the brain or something else?

I have always felt so much better and more alive at night. I never knew why, and when I once read that it depends on the time of day you were born I thought that was it. I was born at around 3-4pm in the afternoon, so it seemed to fit.

However, when I realised sleep problems were a part of autism I knew that was it. Even more specifically, someone recently posted on here about delayed sleep phase disorder (which is stated to affect those with ADHD not specifically autism) I knew this was it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_sl ... e_disorder

They probably haven't worked out yet that autistics get this.

I get up early a lot, go outside and ride my bike or do stuff, I never sleep in now, but I did when i was younger

I suspect that is the solution. It's just easy to stay up at night when that is the time you feel the best.

I stay up late too, as I always sleep in the afternoon for at least 2 hours. I have nights and mornings to enjoy

Last edited by boywonder on 29 Apr 2013, 1:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Thyroid issues can cause this problem, and I have thyroid issues. It can make you body clock seem to go in reverse, according to my doctor, where you feel alert and energetic at night, and sluggish and tired in the morning.
But I also heard teenagers can have this sort of issue also. I also heard some schools in Europe now have classes later in the day to make better use of teenagers' more alert hours.

But I am not a teenager.

Thank God!

I have that too.
And am kind of angry about it.
It says this on Wikipedia: "People with DSPD generally fall asleep some hours after midnight and have difficulty waking up in the morning." Hmmmm wonder why? The cultural narrative that we all should sleep at the same time and if we don't get up the same time we have "difficulty waking up" even though waking a person with a more normal circadian rhythm about an hour after they've gone to bed would result in the same thing has always bothered me.

I'm more of a morning person, from kindergarten to graduation I woke up at 5:30 am and went to bed by 10:00 pm. I started staying up till 11/12 pm and waking up at 7/8 am during college and up till now. I prefer the early morning because relatively few people are out and there aren't many interesting shows on, so less distractions and more alone time. I'd like to go back to my original schedule but I'd miss my late shows and my wife wouldn't appreciate it (she is not a morning person).

We are in agreement here - which is good!

Maybe it's an Aspie thing to think this, but to me, the societal expectations that we should be up by a certain time and in bed by a certain time, and if you keep different hours you are abnormal or anti-social are wrong. I guess because employment, shop opening hours (although those are more amenable these days) and school, dictate the necessity for a certain sleep routine. I just hate it that those constraints exist and find it incredibly frustrating. I don't like to live my life to a clock or particular schedule. I'm sure my executive dysfunction issues contribute a lot to this as well.

Flexi-time is a God-send for people like me.

Last edited by whirlingmind on 29 Apr 2013, 11:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

I feel happier in the morning when I haven't got work and I'm just pleasing myself. I don't know why but everything always seems to look better in the morning, the house looks tidier and I feel more motivated to do things, as though the day is full of things to do. Then come the afternoon, after about 2 to 2.30, I start becoming bored, and if I'm out I want to get home out of the way and I also feel sleepy, so I usually take a nap if I can. I usually feel most depressed between 4 and 6 o'clock, probably because everyone's coming in from work and there's a lot of shuffling about and talking, which agitates me. Also I start getting hungry for my dinner, and my mood seems to change when I get hungry.

Night time I usually feel happier, because it's quiet time and I can leisurely have a bath and go to bed, and every night when I get into bed I always like to wind down by putting a DVD or video on to watch, and that usually relaxes me.

Night...

I go to sleep between 4am-6am...wake around 1pm-3pm - obviously it causes problems doing anything as everywhere closes at 5pm, and people assume you're lazy (despite getting no more sleep than anyone else, often less sleep due to being woken-up during the day), the latter is especially true when you're unemployed. Although right now I'm in a different time zone (8 hours behind) so it's working out quite well, it'll be interesting to see if it changes long-term.

I've ALWAYS been like this, even when working I chose late or night shifts and if I had to work mornings I just didn't sleep as it was easier than if I attempted to sleep/wake early, and I've never been able to change my sleeping patterns. Getting up in the morning normally leads to my being very ill....tired, headaches, dizziness, nausea, heartburn, indigestion, problems with digestive system, worsening neurological problems (autism and RLS) and generally looking like a zombie.

I feel a lot better in the mornings really.

I voted "I generally feel better in the morning (from 6.00-12.00) than at night (from 18.00-24.00)".

Apart from the short period after waking up, say, about half an hour, I generally feel better in the morning and early afternoon. Perhaps because I get tired as the day gets older. I feel OK in the evening but I'm certainly much more productive in the morning. Usually I feel drained and exhausted late at night.

I think it has to do with sensory issues. Think about it. At night. there is less noise and less things going on.

I'm definitely not a morning person but my mood is always significantly worse at night. I have always felt like sleep is a mini reset button and that I feel better (emotionally speaking) after a few hours sleep. But I have no energy in the mornings and am generally less alert than I would be at 7pm.

Generally, I feel much better at night than I do in the morning, but I am often too tired at night to enjoy it.