For those living with an insomnia, bedtime can be a living nightmare for a mind that won’t turn off. Sleep deprivation causes not only serious health issues, but problems at work due to low productivity and mistakes caused by fatigue. Over-the-counter medications can be helpful for a few days but the problem with medication is that its effectiveness is short term and you may become dependent on it.
The solution will not happen overnight. It takes at least 7 days to break a habit, and sometimes as much as 21 days to really get into the swing of things. It will take a lot of effort and consistent good sleep hygiene. The most important thing is: don’t give up. Insomnia is not something that will magically go away on it’s own with no effort from you.
What should I do to help my insomnia?
Periods of relaxation are key:
Wind down. Allow yourself a period of time to allow the activating processes in the brain to wind down and decrease activity so that the sleep systems can take over. Try “settling” two hours before bedtime. Do not work or talk on the phone as this will cause the brain to activate. Watching television is all right; however, an hour before bed, your best bet is to read or listen to music.
Gradually increase the amount of sleep you get during the night. This slowly “squeeze out” the amount of times you wake up in the middle of night. To do this: set your bedtime and your wake-up time according to the number of hours of sleep you are getting currently. For instance, if you are sleeping only four hours a night, set your sleep time for that amount. Then gradually increase the amount of time allotted for sleep by 15 minutes or so every few nights.
Focus on conditioning yourself for different sleep behavior. The bedroom should be visually pleasing and very comfortable. One should use the bedroom only for sleep, sex, and changing clothes, pleasant activities, and if you wake in the middle of the night with unpleasant thoughts, it’s best to leave the bedroom until they pass. Activities such as working on the computer, conversation, talking on the phone, and watching TV is better off outside the bedroom (many people use the television to distract their thoughts or add background noise to help them sleep. This works for some, but not all. If you’re struggling with insomnia and not the occasional rough night’s sleep—skip late night TV.)
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