How 2 Sleep

[Lunastar_13]

Guys... Does anyone know ways to sleep that work, but aren't medication or those "Fall asleep in 5 minutes" music videos? Neither of those work for me, and I feel like I've tried everything I can. For a person with depression, I think it makes sense. I also have procrastination issues, and probably something else that keeps me awake. I need something to help me sleep... If you know any ways that work for you, share them with me, and I'll test them, and I'll respond at some point, saying it did or didn't. I cannot do every single idea in one night, also, if you can, please tell me how much time it usually takes you to fall asleep with these methods. Thank you! 

[christinewho]

if this is/was serious you shouldn't have posted this on April 1st.

[Mistywolf3628]

I have anxiety & procrastination issues too, so I've had trouble falling asleep for a while. Something that works for me personally is listening to music (not watching a video, just putting on headphones/earbuds and closing my eyes while the music plays). I have a playlist on Spotify specifically for songs that I find relaxing and can fall asleep to. But if that doesn't work for you, maybe try some kind of ambient noise? Find a noise that is soothing to you, it could be anything (some examples include rain, the ocean or soft traffic sounds), it just needs to be a constant noise that can distract you from your thoughts. I really like the sound of rain, so sometimes I use that to fall asleep instead if the music is too distracting. You can also find playlists dedicated to this on any music streaming platform. With these methods it usually takes me 30m-1hr to fall asleep, but it can sometimes take longer.

 

I think the key is that you need to be able to let go of whatever thoughts are keeping you awake. You don't have to get rid of them completely, just let yourself lose focus on them until you wake up in the morning. I will say that this doesn't always work for me - if there's something really eating away at me and I can't stop myself from thinking about it, it's probably something that I need to address first before I can truly relax. It's not always under my control, but if I can figure out some way to deal with it then that usually helps. Another thing that could affect your sleep is your eating schedule. Try to eat dinner a bit earlier, that way you don't have any excess energy to burn right before going to bed.

 

I hope you find a solution that works for you, getting enough sleep is really important for our mental & physical health 💙

[Fuzzbucket]

I second listening - but - to a book. A really really boring book. See if Audible has something like a long manual for assembling a lawnmower. Or anything that bores you to tears (there's a novel series by Robert Harris that would do it for me, but maybe not for you !). And pay attention to it. It drives out other thoughts and also is so boring it helps you to nod off.

 

Yes - don't eat after about 6.30, and DON'T use alcohol to help with this - it doesn't and it is a known depressive agent anyway.

Are you on anti-depressants ? there are a few herbal things that might help, but they would depend on the drugs you are on.

[Westly]

Hi there!

 

Chronic insomnia here.  I've been fighting to sleep for years, some nights it's impossible.

 

My best advice?  Repetition and ritual.  Be consistent. 

Start the night early.  Either stop using devices a good 30 minutes before you sleep, or use Blue Light lenses.  From what I understand the blue light affects your ability to produce melatonin, which helps you sleep.

 

Give yourself at least 15 minutes, stretch, brush your teeth, get into specific sleep clothes, have something warm to drink (Not caffenated!), and make a whole thing out of it.  You'll want to do this every night so that your body goes "Oh, we're in the kitchen holding a cup of warm mint tea, this means sleep is incoming!"

 

Don't have any screens in your room.  If you use youtube videos to go to sleep, turn the screen down or turn it away from you.  

 

Dark is good.  Try to get the room as dark as you comfortably can.

 

Curl up in bed.  Be sure you're comfortable, and not overly warm/cold.  You'll want the room to be cooler, humanoids sleep better in the cold.  

 

Close your eyes.  One of the things that have always helped is to do a relaxation exercise.  My favorite one is to tighten all the muscles in  your toes and relax, then your feet and relax, then add your calves and relax, and keep going up your body till you've tightened all the muscles and very deliberately relaxed.

 

When I'm all relaxed, I'll find a nice mental place to go, like moonlit woods, and I'll focus on running.  Just running through the woods.  Flying through the sky.  Diving below the water and seeing what I can see in my own mind.

 

Most nights, I don't have too much of an issue sleeping.  I try to be consistent with my bed-time, (around 1 AM), and try to do the same things every night (I clean the litter box, pick up any stray clothes, fill the humidifier/set up the fan, put on my favorite sleep related youtube video, tell Alexa that it's time to sleep so she shuts down the house, turns on my sunset light).

 

I'm not perfect with it.  I do like to play mobile games a little much, and when my brain is 'busy' I'll occupy it with a game for a while.  I really should cut that out!

 

So, that's my experience and advice!  This from someone who's been struggling with insomnia for way too long!

 

Best of luck!

[Fuzzbucket]

This is a very good book by a genuine sleep expert (I have met her) - if it hasn't a solution, nobody has:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Insomnia-Other-Sleep-Disorders-Comprehensive/dp/0993073905/ref=sr_1_10?

[dracornithologist]

This is something I've found useful for sleeping throughout the night; I struggled with never sleeping for more than a couple hours without restlessly waking up, interrupting deep sleep and ultimately harming my immune system from a young age. It wasn't until I started receiving care in college that I found that the constant wakefulness was a PTSD symptom. This is something I encourage anyone with sleep disruptions to look into if they haven't already; healing needs rest! One of the physical properties of what's going on with it is people who are under stress long-term have higher levels of cortisol. Your body naturally produces a spike of cortisol while you sleep, in order to (slowly, usually) begin the process of waking you up in a natural rhythm. But if your body produces cortisol at a higher level already, the spike produced by the natural rhythm overloads your system, and you can't stay asleep. So sometimes, wakefulness in the night can be partially alleviated by addressing the cortisol. My favorite method is keeping a cool cloth (it's meant as a compression band for migraines, so it is fabric intended to hold the cold) in the freezer. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I take the cloth from the freezer and rest it wherever is comfiest on my torso as I try to go back to sleep. Lowering core temperature (briefly - not past the point of comfort. I like the cloth because it normalizes to room temperature in a relatively short amount of time. Don't put ice directly on your skin basically!!) can inhibit the rise in cortisol and help your return to sleep. This is mostly anecdotal experience I'm speaking from, though!