This is an introduction to early morning Personality Disorder (e.m.PD) – aka the rude awakening. Please note that as of this writing, e.m.PD is not an officially recognized medical diagnosis…but perhaps it should be.

For lack of a better subject at the moment, I’ll talk about my personal experiences with e.m.PD. Although I have dealt with these feelings for as long as I can remember, it was several years ago that I finally realized my “condition” had a name. Or, at least, I gave it a name. And much like so many other discoveries and breakthroughs, the name was the result of a tongue-in-cheek quip I made to some friends.

Imagine a time just after the turn of the century – we were attending a business conference for creative entrepreneur types. It was late, and we were planning our networking strategies for the following day while winding down from a long day of unfettered making and learning. I noted that I should probably go to bed because I tend to be a bit anti-social in the morning, especially during the first hour or two after I wake up. In keeping with my usual straight-faced attempts at humor, I said something along the lines of “I have e.m.PD.” Of course they were all immediately concerned and asked, “What’s that?” In the most solemn voice I could muster, I said, “early morning Personality Disorder.” It took them a few seconds to realize that was the punch line, and then we all had a good laugh followed by a lively discussion where we discovered it wasn’t just me. I was not alone.

Since that time, I have found that whenever I describe my condition, I usually get the same nodding heads and exclamations of agreement as others recognize the symptoms in themselves or someone they know. Our numbers are great. We are a community of people living with a condition that, until now, had no voice.  This unofficial, non-scientific journal is brought to you as a result of my unofficial, non-scientific research. Hey, we have to start somewhere don’t we?