It is 2:00 AM. The house is quiet. The world is asleep. But your brain? Your brain is hosting a panel discussion on every mistake you made in 2014 while simultaneously replaying a song you haven’t heard in a decade. If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. In fact, up to 80% of adults with ADHD experience chronic insomnia or significant sleep disturbances.
For years, I believed my inability to fall asleep at a “normal” hour was a character flaw. I thought I lacked discipline. I told myself that if I tried harder, I would become that person who wakes up at 6:00 AM to run five miles before work. But I never became that person. I am a night owl. I always have been. And as it turns out, my brain… and yours… might be wired this way.
This post explores why our brains refuse to shut down, the science behind our internal clocks, and how we handle life when the world demands we wake up before we are ready.
The Biology: It Is Not Laziness, It Is Rhythms
We often hear that we need better “sleep hygiene.” People tell us to put the phone away or drink chamomile tea. While those things help, they rarely solve the problem for us. That is because the issue runs deeper than bad habits.
Research indicates that ADHD is functionally a circadian rhythm disorder. Our internal body clocks do not tick in time with the rest of the world. For most people, the brain releases melatonin, the sleepy hormone, around 9:00 PM or 10:00 PM. But for us, that signal is often delayed by an average of 90 minutes.
This means when you lay in bed at 11:00 PM staring at the ceiling, your body has not physically received the message to sleep yet. You are not fighting thoughts; you are fighting biology. This delay is why many of us identify as a night owl. We feel most alert, creative, and “ourselves” when the sun goes down.
The “Sleep of the Dead” and Morning Dread
If falling asleep is a battle, waking up is a war. I have lost count of how many alarms I have slept through. It feels impossible to rise. This phenomenon has a name. It is often linked to delayed sleep phase type (DSPD), which affects roughly 36% of adults with ADHD.
Because our sleep onset is late, our deepest sleep phases shift later too. When the alarm goes off at 7:00 AM, a neurotypical brain is already in light sleep, ready to wake. Our brains are often in the deepest stage of rest. Waking up then is physically painful. It feels like being pulled out of a coma. We call this the “sleep of the dead,” and it often lasts until the afternoon.
This struggle leads to “social jetlag.” We force our bodies to function on a schedule that contradicts our biology. It is exhausting. And it is not because we are lazy. It is because we are permanently jet-lagged without ever leaving the time zone.
The Emotional Toll of the Night Watch
There is a loneliness to being awake when everyone else is dreaming. I recently played the role of Bobby in the musical Company. Bobby is single, observing his married friends, often feeling on the outside looking in. Standing on stage, I realized how much that mirrored my life with adult ADHD.
At night, the silence is beautiful, but it leaves room for the “What ifs.” Without the noise of the day, our brains seek stimulation. Sometimes that looks like creative bursts. Other times, it looks like anxiety or “revenge bedtime procrastination”… staying up late simply to reclaim time we felt we lost during the day.
We stay awake because it is the only time the world demands nothing from us. It is our safe harbor. But the cost is high. The shame of missing morning meetings or showing up groggy builds up. We must stop apologizing for our biology and start managing it.
Practical Strategies for the ADHD Brain
We might not fix our circadian rhythms entirely, but we improve our relationship with them. Here are strategies that help me:
- Stop Fighting the Clock: If you are not tired at 11:00 PM, do not lie in bed fighting it. That creates “sleep reactivity,” where the bed becomes a stress trigger. Get up. Read a book. Do something low-stimulation until the tiredness hits.
- Light as Medicine: Light is the strongest signal for our internal clock. I try to get sunlight (or use a light therapy lamp) immediately upon waking. It helps reset the rhythm for the next night.
- The “Landing Strip” Method: Our brains need a long runway to land. I start winding down two hours before sleep, not ten minutes. I dim the lights and switch to audiobooks instead of screens.
Common Questions About ADHD Sleep
Q: Is my insomnia caused by my medication? A: Not necessarily. While stimulants affect sleep, studies show that sleep disturbances and delayed melatonin onset persist in adults with ADHD even without medication. The issue is often intrinsic to the condition itself.
Q: Why do I feel more awake at night than during the day? A: This is the circadian rhythm delay at work. Your cortisol (wake-up hormone) and melatonin (sleep hormone) cycles are shifted later, meaning your “morning” biological peak might happen at 8:00 PM.
Q: Will taking melatonin supplements fix this? A: Supplements help some people, but they are not a cure-all. They signal the brain that it is time to sleep, but they do not force sleep. Always consult a doctor before starting any supplement regimen.
Finding Your Rhythm
We spend so much time trying to fit into a world designed for early birds. But there is power in understanding your own design. You are not broken because you sleep differently. You are simply running on a different time zone.
Be kind to yourself tonight. If sleep does not come immediately, remember that your brain is unique, capable, and worthy of rest—whenever that rest happens to arrive.
Much love. Good vibes. – Ky
