OverSleeping Syndrome

Oversleeping Syndrome is a psychological phenomenon that has been documented numerous times in the polyphasic sleeping community. It occurs when a polyphasic sleeper experiences consistent oversleeps, but nevertheless continues attempting to adapt, expecting to succeed eventually.

The syndrome is fatal for adaptation because:

1. Continuing to oversleep while trying to adapt will inevitably mess up one's circadian rhythm and sleep compression entirely. The body is trying to adjust to a certain sleep cycle length, but this can only happen with no oversleeping.
2. As sleep is not stabilized (oversleeping during intended waking time, lack of consistency), the person will fail to adapt to a schedule and thus will constantly be plagued in sleep deprivation. Long-term sleep deprivation leads to obesity, diabetes, increased heart rate, headaches, fatigue, frequent anger, and more negative symptoms.

The solution to this syndrome is generally to go back to monophasic sleep or another non-reducing schedule for at least 1-2 weeks to regain homeostasis, then attempt to adapt to a polyphasic schedule again. This is called "recovery".