Sleep and circadian schedule disorders

The timing and synchronization of human circadian rhythms is important for health and well-being. Some individuals, for reasons that remain unclear, display less resilience or flexibility in their ability to synchronize to the 24-hour world and are thus diagnosed with a circadian schedule disorder. The objective of this article is to briefly introduce concepts about human circadian timing and to review what is known about chronic, long-term circadian schedule disorders such as delayed sleep phase syndrome, advanced sleep phase syndrome, irregular sleep-wake patterns, and non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder. Practical considerations for the clinician caring for these individuals are discussed.