Does anyone have any great tips to help you sleep? ?
A little history - I am an overthinker, overanalyzer and have some anxiety. There have been a few times in my life where I have had trouble sleeping. The first was caused by jet lag after flying to Europe. I developed such anxiety from that situation (even after I started sleeping again) that I have always feared that situation happening again. So, it has happened on four other occasions.
The last time was really frightening because I'm a teacher and I have to be "on" all the time and so I developed all of these fears and anxieties around sleeping.
What helped me get out of my slump was listening to a tv show or one of my favorite movies. That makes me feel at ease.
However, when I get really stressed about sleeping, I get really hypersensitive regarding the things around me and monitoring my falling asleep.
I'm sure some of you know what I'm saying...
Do you have any suggestions that work for you that don't involve smoking pot, drinking or taking sleeping pills? Xanax works for me at a low dose when needed to relax me but I'm looking alternatives.
Thanks! :)
2008-12-19T12:13:34Z
Thank you for your responses. I actually don't have a serious problem. I have a therapist and a doctor. My problem is just anxiety and it is intermittent. I think a lot of people have it. I do always appreciate the expertise of other though! :)
Daryl E2008-12-19T12:05:18Z
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I know it sounds cliche', but I've found the best way to get a good night's rest is to eat a big meal, make love to someone, snuggle up, and bam...out like a light. It's hard to feel stressed after intercourse.
I tend to overanalyze at times as well and I have always had trouble with sleep. I sometimes will leave the TV on or I will leave a light on. I shower at night to help calm me down and I try to do something creative like draw write or play my guitar before I fall asleep so I can get my ideas and thoughts out of my head as much as possible. Also getting to bed the same time every night really helps me. I also have to tell myself its going to be okay sometimes because I get so anxious about stuff. I also like to talk to a friend before I go to sleep just for some kind of a connection. I hope this helps a lil. Good luck:)
First of all, being sleepless from jet lag is totally normal, stop changing time zones or visiting forgein countries. Second, stressing over not sleeping releases adrenaline which will keep you wide awake as well. During the week, make sure you've set your alarm well, then turn it away from you so you don't see it everytime you wake up. Your body will get used to it after a while.
Here are some sleepless triggers: watching exciting movies at night; drinking; eating too close to bedtime; clock watching;soda and/or junk food before bed; having the lights bright in the house. Movies trigger adrenaline; drinking is mostly sugar, and will keep you awake once the alcohol itself wears off; eating any sort of food or drink releases adrenaline, caffeine boosts, and burns off no calories as you sleep. And seeing as the human body thinks the sun is up when the lights are bright, keeping them dim at night lets it know it's bedtime.
As for falling asleep, try this: lie in bed with your eyes closed. Take slow, deep, relaxed breaths. Starting at your toes, flex and release each muscle MENTALLY before moving to the next. After all your toes, the top of your foot; the back of your foot; the muscles on either side of your ankle. THEN switch to your other leg, and do the same. Switch between legs, flexing and relaxing each muscle with your mind only. If you start to nod off, FORCE yourself awake, and continue. Next thing you know, you're waking up to your alarm going off.
Hey, I think I have the same sort of problems as you; when you say about overanalysing things, not being able to sleep and feeling anxious in certain situations. Would you mind telling me a bit more about what happens with you and how you deal with it? Perhaps its a condition that hasn't been given a term yet.
I overanalyse things since I sometimes think I know what people are thinking. Not exactly their thoughts, but generally speaking. I get very paranoid and think people are always thinking negative thoughts about me. My family tell me that I am wrong, that people aren't thinking those things and everything is not black and white.
But is that really true? When everyone looks at the sky during the daytime they'll say it's blue, unless they are colourblind. And the majority of people will judge others in the same way. They will generally think the same things. So I am faced with this question of whether I am mad or are other people mad for not seeing as much as I do.
I recently went through a stage of waking up ever morning at about 4am and not being able to get back to sleep. As I don't go to bed until around midnight it meant I was getting very little sleep. It really started to get me down and like you, I have a job that requires me to be on the ball at all times. The fear of waking up in the early hours started to stop me from actually falling asleep in the first place and I started to analyse it and think abou it too much. In the end, I thought, my body will eventually sort itself out - it has done when I have experienced this in the past. I always watch a bit of TV in bed - that makes me sleepy. You are right to avoid things like sleeping tablets (they can become addictive) - try a bit of lavender oil on your pillow or having a hot bath. Other than that, try not to focus too much on it and honestly, mother nature will put your body clock right in the end. Once you have one good nights sleep your anxiety pattern will be broken.