If you regularly find yourself wide awake at 5am, longing for an extra hour or two of peaceful slumber, you may be suffering from a common sleep disorder called “early morning wakening”.

Sleep experts have pinpointed three main reasons for it, according to Professor Jim Horne, who runs the Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University.

He says: “If you are a fairly happy person, you are probably just going to bed too early. Drink coffee or do something active to stay awake later in the evening. It will take a few nights to break the habit, so you have to persist.”

Early morning wakening, however, can be a sign of depression. “People who have anxiety-related problems often have difficulty staying asleep or getting to sleep,” he adds. If you are depressed, it is better to try to resolve the root cause, if possible, rather than to rely on sleeping pills, according to Professor Chris Idzikowski, the director of the private clinic the Sleep Assessment and Advisory Service.

He says: “People who are depressed can be physiologically quite active and stressed. Internally they can be pretty wound up and this keeps them awake. Sleeping pills will blot it out for a while, but the brain will simply pump up the pressure and you will

be forced to rely on stronger doses.”

Another reason for early morning wakening may simply be age-related. Becoming a lark, rather than an owl, is something that happens to most of us as we age. It is why you will rarely find a teenager who suffers the problem.

Dr Christopher Hanning, of the Leicester Sleep Disorder Clinic, says: “This type of body clock disturbance is called ‘advanced sleep phase syndrome’ and is common in older people. Youngsters get the reverse — ‘delayed sleep phase’.”

Professor Horne agrees: “As you get older, you find it increasingly difficult to stay awake all day so you will take one or two naps. You might start feeling sleepy again, say about 9pm, and head off to bed, when you should really have another 15-minute nap. Many elderly people get agitated or depressed by early wakening and think something is wrong, when it is just their body telling them they have had enough sleep.”

GPs will often prescribe sleeping tablets or antidepressants rather than advise on sleep management, he adds. “If you take sleeping tablets to get back to sleep at 4am or 5am, you will just feel groggy during the day. A better way is to try to cut down on naps during the day or go to bed later.”

Sleep habits are difficult to break. Many of us who are used to rising early to catch commuter trains or tend to young children find it impossible to sleep longer, even when we get the opportunity. But it is important not to overestimate how much sleep you need, Professor Idzikowski adds.

“People do not need as much sleep as they assume. About seven and a quarter to seven and a half hours is about right. If you are trying to change your sleeping patterns, keep a diary to see how things progress. It will take several nights.”

Dr Hanning adds: “If you want to shift your sleep patterns to be able to sleep later, do it gradually. But it is worth noting that you are at your most productive physically and mentally in the mornings, so perhaps it is a good time just to get up and start the day.”