Many of us have experienced jet lag at some point in our lives. You fly across multiple time zones and gain or lose hours depending on your direction. You feel off for a day or two – sluggish, fatigued, and unable to shake off the brain fog no matter how many espresso shots you ask the barista to add to your Starbucks “Red Eye” coffee. Even the one-hour shift of daylight savings can make us feel adrift!
Imagine feeling like this every day through the rest of the year. What would your personal, professional, and social life look like at the end of 2026?
Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder (Non-24) is a chronic circadian rhythm condition that studies suggest may affect 50–70% of individuals who are totally blind. At NSITE, we’re focused on one thing: helping people who are blind build the lives and careers they choose. That means we must name the barriers that get in the way, andNon-24 is one of them.
The Science: Why the “Clock” Drifts
All of us have an internal clock in our brain that helps decide when we feel awake, sleepy, hungry, or alert. This “timekeeper” is in a tiny region called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Here’s the twist: most of our internal clocks don’t run on a perfect 24-hour schedule. They usually run a little long. Research suggests that, on average, the human internal circadian period—represented by the Greek letter Tau (τ)—runs slightly longer than 24 hours:
τ ≈ 24.2 hours.
For sighted people, morning light that enters the eyes is the cue that says, ‘New day—start here.’ It helps reset that daily 24.2 drift so your body stays lined up with the world, a process known as entrainment.
Some people who are totally blind still have light perception that can help with entrainment. But for many, that light signal isn’t available, and the internal clock begins to ‘free-run.’ Your sleep time doesn’t just shift once—it keeps shifting. And after a while, you can find yourself wide awake at 3 a.m., then struggling to stay alert at noon.
To put it another way, imagine starting the week relying on a watch or smartphone clock that lost 12 minutes each day without you knowing. On Friday you miss your dentist’s appointment because you were half an hour late. By Monday, you arrive at work nearly an hour late. By the following Friday, you are completely confused and out of sorts with your schedule.
The Impact on Independence
Independence depends on consistency, showing up for work, making plans, keeping appointments, having the energy to do life. So much independence is simply being able to count on your own body, especially when you have responsibilities to other people.
Non-24 creates a “rolling” state of exhaustion that makes consistency nearly impossible.
- The Economic Barrier: Picture trying to nail a 9 a.m. interview when your body thinks it’s 2 a.m. For blind professionals, Non-24 can be misidentified as a lack of punctuality or motivation, when it is a physiological battle.
- The Social Toll: When your sleep keeps rotating, it’s easy to disappear from other people’s lives without meaning to. It can start to feel like you’re living on the opposite side of everyone else’s world.
- The Health Tax: Living in a state of “permanent jet lag” isn’t just tiring; it’s hard on the body. Research has associated long-term circadian misalignment with wider health impacts, including metabolic and cardiovascular strain.
Breaking the Cycle: Toward Economic and Personal Freedom
Putting a name to what’s happening matters. When people understand Non-24, they can both talk about it with their doctor and ask for what they need at work and home. Understanding Non-24 can be a turning point: it gives employers, employees, friends, and family members the language, understanding, and options to help a person move forward.
What can be done? The Good News
- Clinical Diagnosis: If you experience periods of insomnia followed by periods of extreme daytime sleepiness, speak to a sleep specialist. Sleep specialist tools like sleep logs and melatonin-release testing can confirm a Non-24 diagnosis.
- Chronotherapy & Medication: There are FDA-approved treatments, such as melatonin agonists, designed specifically to help the brain “signal” nighttime to the SCN, even in the absence of light.
- Workplace Accommodations: Workplace accommodations may be available, including flexible or asynchronous schedules during out-of-sync periods.
A Message to our Community
To our community members who are currently “drifting”: You are not lazy, and you are not alone. Your body is doing what it’s wired to do, your clock is just out of sync.
By bringing Non-24 out into the daylight, we encourage individuals who are blind, low vision, or visually impaired to seek the support they need. True independence means having the tools to manage your health so you can focus on your career, your family, and your future.
Now that we have recently changed from Standard Time back to Day Saving Time, let’s commit to a world where a different rhythm doesn’t mean a different level of personal, economic, and financial opportunity for people who are blind.
For more information and resources on non-24 and other chronic Circadian Rhythm disorders, access the Circadian Sleep Disorders Network at: https://www.circadiansleepdisorders.org/