Stay With Me While I Go To Sleep

How to Sleep Better: Try to make dinnertime earlier in the evening, and avoid heavy, rich foods within two hours of bed. Spicy or acidic foods can cause stomach trouble and heartburn which can wake you during the night. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that you stop drinking caffeinated beverages at least six hours before bedtime. People who are sensitive to caffeine may need to stop even earlier.

The more trouble you have with sleep, the more it starts to invade your thoughts. But agonizing and expecting sleep difficulties only makes insomnia worse. If sleep worries are getting in the way of your ability to unwind at night, the following strategies may help. The goal is to train your body to associate the bed with sleep and nothing else—especially not frustration and anxiety.

Use the bedroom only for sleeping and sex.

When to Arrive:

Move bedroom clocks out of view. Get out of bed when you can't sleep. Tossing and turning only amps up the anxiety. Get up, leave the bedroom, and do something relaxing, such as reading, drinking a cup of herbal tea, or taking a bath. The key is to recognize self-defeating thoughts and replace them with more realistic ones. I should be able to sleep well every night like a normal person. Insomnia can be cured. If I stop worrying so much and focus on positive solutions, I can beat it. I just know it.

Remember, learning how to stop worrying takes time and practice. You may find it helpful to jot down your own list, taking note of the negative thoughts that pop up and how you can dispute them. You may be surprised at how often these negative thoughts run through your head. Be patient and ask for support if you need it. Many people with insomnia are able to fall asleep at bedtime, but then wake up in the middle of the night.

They then struggle to get back to sleep, often lying awake for hours. If this describes you, the following tips may help. Stay out of your head. Hard as it may be, try not to stress over your inability to fall back to sleep, because that stress only encourages your body to stay awake. To stay out of your head, focus on the feelings in your body or practice breathing exercises.

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Make relaxation your goal, not sleep. If you find it hard to fall back to sleep, try a relaxation technique such as visualization, progressive muscle relaxation, or meditation, which can be done without even getting out of bed. Promote relaxation by rubbing your ears or rolling your eyes. Another simple way to promote sleep is to close your eyes and slowly roll them upwards a few times. Do a quiet, non-stimulating activity. Postpone worrying and brainstorming.

If you wake during the night feeling anxious about something, make a brief note of it on paper and postpone worrying about it until the next day when it will be easier to resolve. Similarly, if a great idea is keeping you awake, make a note of it on paper and fall back to sleep knowing you'll be much more productive after a good night's rest. Breathing deeply and fully, involving not only the chest, but also the belly, lower back, and ribcage, can help relaxation.

Close your eyes and take deep, slow breaths, making each breath even deeper than the last. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Starting with your feet, tense the muscles as tightly as you can. Hold for a count of 10, and then relax. Continue to do this for every muscle group in your body, working your way up from your feet to the top of your head.

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Sit or lie quietly and focus on your natural breathing and how your body feels in the moment. Allow thoughts and emotions to come and go without judgment, always returning to focus on breath and your body.

There are many dietary and herbal supplements marketed for their sleep-promoting effects. For more information, talk to your doctor or pharmacist. While scientific evidence is still being gathered for alternative sleep remedies, you might find that some of them work wonderfully for you. The two supplements with the most evidence supporting their effectiveness for insomnia are melatonin and valerian.

And if not used carefully, they actually make insomnia worse in the long run. First, try changing your sleep habits, your daily routine, and your attitudes about sleep.

Evidence shows that lifestyle and behavioral changes make the largest and most lasting difference when it comes to insomnia. Provide the doctor with as much supporting information as possible, including information from your sleep diary. In general, sleeping pills and sleep aids are most effective when used sparingly for short-term situations, such as traveling across time zones or recovering from a medical procedure.

Since many people complain that frustrating, negative thoughts and worries prevent them from sleeping at night, cognitive-behavioral therapy CBT can be much more effective in addressing insomnia. CBT is a form of psychotherapy that treats problems by modifying negative thoughts, emotions, and patterns of behavior.

It can be conducted individually, in a group, or even online. A study at Harvard Medical School found that CBT was more effective at treating chronic insomnia than prescription sleep medication—but without the risks or side effects. Insomnia — National Sleep Foundation. Lawrence Robinson, Melinda Smith, M. The content of this reprint is for informational purposes only and NOT a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. ORG Trusted guide to mental health Toggle navigation. The researchers expected to find that the irregular sleepers who stayed up till all hours were sleeping fewer hours than their regular-sleeping counterparts.

But no--both groups were sleeping about the same number of hours in total because the irregular sleepers were napping during the day. Their grades still suffered, proving what most of know by instinct: A nap can be nice but it's no replacement for a good night's sleep. Irregular sleepers had delayed circadian rhythms compared to regular sleepers.

Both phenomena have been shown to be related to weight gain in earlier studies, the researchers note. If that information isn't enough to make you stop pulling all-nighters, I don't know what is. One thing the study didn't do is measure the things that might cause someone to become an irregular sleeper, and how they might affect academic performance.

For example, if you're someone who goes to bed at precisely 10 pm every night and wakes up at precisely 5 am every morning, chances are you're a highly disciplined sort, which means you might also have the discipline to get all your homework done early. Conversely, irregular sleep can be a symptom of depression, and depression could certainly affect one's academic performance.

More study is needed to better understand these factors, the researchers say. In the meantime, if you're a late riser stop beating yourself up about it.