Dear Dr. Snow,

I'm an eighteen-year-old student and I'm just beginning my first year at college. I graduated from high school, but my grades were not great. All through high school, I had trouble getting up in the morning to get to school on time. I couldn't concentrate in class during the day. My parents tried to force me to sleep for 10 hours every night, but I just couldn't. Now I am worried that I won't be able to succeed in school. I still have trouble staying awake during the day.

At night I feel completely awake so I decided on an approach to getting my work done. I go on the Internet, and I spend hours online. I had a few teachers who put up their class notes online so that I could go over the information I didn't get during the day. I could continue to do this but I feel that it's not normal to be so tired during the day. I didn't have much of a social life with other students when I was in high school. I would like to make friends with people in college. I would like to feel more awake during the day. What should I do?

Yours,

Jonathan

Dear Jonathan,

It might be that your sleep and wake cycles are the opposite of most people's cycles. Most people feel awake in the day and tired at night. You should make an appointment to see your doctor. Ask your doctor to refer you to a specialist who can test you and find out if you have a sleep disorder that makes it difficult to sleep at night. When you know the test results, then together with your doctor and family, you can make some plans to change your sleep cycle.

Yours,

Snow