Is there any solid fact that shows we're better at staying awake during the day?

[pateuvasiliu]

I know the title is confusing so let me clue you in.

I'm a student and I have the tendency of being lazy, in that I don't study regulately but rather study one night before ( it worked so far, I know it's bad and so on ). Now the thing is that I usually pull all nighters during this and fuck my sleep cycle up. For instance, now I go to sleep at 2-4 pm and wake up at 10 pm without an alarm ( so really it's the body getting as much sleep as it needs, the usual 6-8 hours ). What I noticed, though, is that I am much worse at staying awake when I stay awake the whole night ( regardless of how much I slept. If I wake up at 10 pm I'll be sleepy/tired by the time morning hits ) even if I were to wake up at 8 am I wouldn't be tired and falling asleep at 8 pm.

So from where I'm standing it's as if I spend more energy staying awake during the night than during the day. Is this just a placebo effect or are we literally built to stay awake better when the sun is up?

[Schadow]

Placebo probably. I used to work night shifts and when I quit that job, I was still much better awake during the evening/nights than during the day.

It was also a hell to return to the day time shift for my sleeping pattern. Took months to straighten that out.

[Notchris]

I function like absolute shit in the afternoons. It's why I've stayed on a night shift for the past 12 years.

[thilicen]

Honestly never had any concrete proof the time I was working nights etc, all depended on amount of hours passed since the last time I had any sleep. That was indoors anyway, only indication of night time was looking out the windows.

[zenkai]

Not going in detail but Daylight will tell your body it's time to wake up giving you the chemical acetylcholine. This is why people say to stay off your smartphones and TV if you want to go to sleep because the fake light tells your body it isn't time to sleep yet

There are people with medical conditions whos body does the opposite. I myself have to go to bed at a certain time if I stay up past that time it's like my body says, oh it's time to be up and I end up staying up till 4 in the morning.

[Zabatakis]

Supposedly sunlight has various effects on the brain and sleep chemicals and whatnot, making it easier to sleep during night. With all the artificial light now a days tho I dunno.

[Vizardlorde]

I thought some studies showed that temperatures had a greater effect on our sleep cycles than light. Which is why rainy weather makes you want to be home sleeping.

[Septik]

from an evolution point of view, yes we are better adapted for the day. if we were meant to be nocturnal we'd be slightly different, id think. small things, like for example, our eyes would work way better (they are ok, not great) at night and our eye lids would probably be thicker to block out the ambient light during the day while we slept. Yes we can definitely act nocturnal and force ourselves to be up at night, and some people prefer it, but compared to animals that evolved to be nocturnal, we are at a disadvantage until you factor in the advantages we give ourselves like artificial light and such.

[Independent voter]

We don't see in the dark. Cat's and owls see in the dark.

[ellieg]

Your body starts producing melatonin in the absence of light. Its the reason they tell you not to look at bright screens half an hour to an hour before bed so that your body can begin the process. Also sunlight is good for you and helps you to absorb vitamin D. For these reasons, humans are awake during the day and asleep at night. You can go against it but its easier to follow the circadian rhythm if you can.

[Deleted]

Eyesight has been in decline since decades, scientists believe it's because we handle many tasks without the help of sunlight.

[isuridedes]

My initial thought was "Yes. Your circadian rhythm is affected by exposure to light (humans are diurnal after all) so of course there is benefit to being awake during the day and sleeping during the dark."

But instead of just posting that I also did the following Google Search for you: is it medically beneficial to sleep at night vs day

Go forth my night-owl student, and learn the perils of your ways!

[Revi]

They say your brain reacts to darkness and makes you more sleepy, but I think mostly habit. During winter it's dark when we go to work and dark again when we leave, so we have very little sun at for many months here. Further north, there's periods of constant darkness and periods of constant sunlight. You get used to it and feel perfectly awake despite the lack of sun.

[ellieg]

They say your brain reacts to darkness and makes you more sleepy, but I think mostly habit. During winter it's dark when we go to work and dark again when we leave, so we have very little sun at for many months here. Further north, there's periods of constant darkness and periods of constant sunlight. You get used to it and feel perfectly awake despite the lack of sun.

That's the reason I get seasonal depression. Not enough sunlight. I never feel awake during winter. Always slightly groggy. In the summer tho I can run marathons.

[Kokolums]

Tests appear to show that humans are designed for segmented sleep.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segmented_sleep

In the pre-industrial era, most people were on a segmented sleep system. The creation of the 8 hour workday pushed the human race off the system. But our bodies appear to still gravitate towards segmented sleep when given the chance.

In one experiment Thomas Wehr had eight healthy men be confined to a room for fourteen hours of darkness every day for a month. At first the participants slept for about eleven hours, presumably making up for their sleep debt. After this the subjects began to sleep as much as people in pre-industrial times had. They would sleep for about four hours, wake up for two to three hours, then go back to bed for another four hours. They also took about two hours to fall asleep.

[Raynre Valence]

In general, yes. There is well documented proof that the circadian rhythm has an effect on most people's sleeping habits. Not just people's, but most of the life on the planet responds to the day/night cycle.

But like everything else, there are always exceptions to the rule. Some people tan easy whilst others just burn no matter what. Some people are night owls. We've merely evolved past the point where our ability to feed ourselves depends on staying awake during the day.

[ellieg]

Tests appear to show that humans are designed for segmented sleep.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segmented_sleep

In the pre-industrial era, most people were on a segmented sleep system. The creation of the 8 hour workday pushed the human race off the system. But our bodies appear to still gravitate towards segmented sleep when given the chance.

" They also took about two hours to fall asleep." fuck that. what a waste of time. I used to have this problem but luckily I fixed it.

[Spl4sh3r]

If you do something consistantly for a week, you are bound to continue doing so. Basically go to bed in time for a full week and you are good, it becomes permanent after three weeks until you change it again

[BuckSparkles]

Aren't people more likely to be depressed working a type of night job over a day job?

And aren't there more depressed people during winter time due to shorter days and less sunlight?

I can't accurately source the two above, I just thought I saw them somewhere at some point.

[zenkai]

Aren't people more likely to be depressed working a type of night job over a day job?

And aren't there more depressed people during winter time due to shorter days and less sunlight?

I can't accurately source the two above, I just thought I saw them somewhere at some point.

I think that might have something to do with vitamin D deficiency.