Extreme night owls: ‘I can’t tell anyone what time I go to bed’

What happens when your natural sleeping pattern is at odds with the rest of the world?

Carter, 27, an NHS co-ordinator, is an “extreme night owl”, one of an estimated 8.2% of the population whose natural inclination is to fall asleep well after midnight. Left to her own devices, she’d prefer to go to bed around 3am and wake up about noon.

She has struggled to organise her life in a way that suits her natural sleeping pattern...