Everyone has their own sleep patterns and levels of sleep. Some people are light sleepers and some are deep sleepers. I am a deep sleeper. In the list to come, I mention my own personal struggles with deep sleeping. This does not mean that all deep sleepers have the same issues, but it is quite possible that most can relate.

Naps are impossible.

No matter how hard I try or how many times I tell myself that I will wake up in 10-20 minutes, it just doesn’t happen. Once I am asleep, I will be out for at least an hour and most likely much longer than that.

Alarm clocks don’t work.

I have so many alarm clocks set in the morning, but it doesn’t even matter. I either can’t hear them at all, or they become part of my dream and I do not realize it’s an alarm. The only way to wake me up when my body isn’t ready yet is to sit right next to me and annoy me awake. Annoying me gets me angry, which in turn makes it easier for my mind to get out of the dream state.

One thing to note is that this does not happen as much in newer environments. For some reason, it is easier to wake up when I am in a place that I am not used to.

Dreams so real that they MUST be finished.

This does not apply to all deep sleepers, but is definitely one of my biggest struggles. My dreams tend to be very realistic, and because I am such a deep sleeper, sometimes my mind is tricked into thinking that any situation going on in my dream needs to be fixed and finished before I can wake up. It makes it so that my body cannot wake easily until the dream is done.

Able to sleep for a VERY long time.

I can still run on less hours and normal hours of sleep, but if life allows, I could sleep most of the day away. Even if I went to bed early, I could still sleep in until noon or later. Waking up has to be a choice. My body ends up no longer sleeping because it needs it, but rather because it likes being in that relaxed dream state.

Some people just don’t understand.

I have often had people ask me why I can’t “just get up,” or say that if I don’t learn to wake up I’ll “never be able to keep a job.” I have also had people say, “you won’t always be able to rely on other people.” The problem is that I am not sleeping in by choice. I know I have places to be, but I literally CANNOT wake up. Some people really do need extra help waking up in the morning. If you live with someone who has this problem, please just bear with them and be there for them with this struggle. They may get mad at you in the moment of waking, but I promise you they will appreciate it later.If a person really cannot hear their alarm clock, they will not be able to simply wake up. If their dreams have them stuck, they will not be able to get themselves out of it and open their eyes without someone annoying them to disrupt the sleep. Please do not try to put all the blame on this deep sleeper, because different people have different struggles that they have to deal with. For deep sleepers, waking up can be a huge one.