Sleep

Former Member

As I type this it is 7:54 AM and I have not slept since waking up at 2 PM.

Every time I've had time off school for Summer or Winter or Easter or even just a week in October I find myself unable to sleep until later than I slept the previous night. This pattern goes so quickly that in one week I can go from sleeping at 11PM to 6AM.

Recently I've felt very bad when trying to sleep and it's caused me to not really try to sleep anymore. This is perhaps the worst my schedule has been in my entire life (woo!)

Three nights ago I did not sleep, then two nights ago I slept from 1AM to 2PM, and last night I did not sleep and it is now the morning and I feel niether tired nor energised.

I live in one of the worst areas in Scotland when it comes to employment so I've been unable to find a job (granted I've not tried in a while) so I really have no reason to get up at any particular time.

My current sleeping patterns are very unhealthy and I feel like if I keep going like this it will make me unhappy. Sleeping is something I've always been downright terrible at, and all you have to do to sleep is nothing. Anyone have any advice on how to have a proper sleeping schedule?

independent_

No advice really, but I get like this too sometimes. Perhaps mine doesn’t change as quickly as yours, but sometimes I can’t sleep till 5 or 6am but I still wake up early.

How have you been feeling in yourself? Sometimes I find that when things are difficult mentally I struggle more to sleep. You said you’re feeling bad when you’re trying to sleep, what kind of bad? Is there anything in particular? I only ask because what’s going on in our brains has such a big impact on sleep.

Have you tried sticking to a specific wake up time? I know people go on about sleep routines and waking up at the same time every day, and I don’t think it has to be quite that strict, but sometimes if you keep an alarm for a set time (say 10am) then eventually you might start to feel tired earlier. This is what I do when my sleep is in a mess and I start to want to fix it, I set an alarm for 10am, then when that starts to help I move it a little bit earlier. Right now mine is set for 8am and I try to be asleep for midnight.

You’ve probably already tried that, but just speaking from personal experience. Not being able to sleep is the worst, I hope you manage to sort it soon.

Former Member

AHH don't have any advice but I feel this! Sleep is so difficult when you fall out of routine. I watched a documentary recently and it said about how the time you wake up should never change but the time you go sleep can change and it helps find a sleep routine

Former Member

Thanks and thanks for the response @independent_

independent_ wrote: »

How have you been feeling in yourself?

It's just that during the day I have these horrible thoughts but I can usually overcome them by trying to focus on what makes me happy. When I'm trying to sleep I don't have the energy to do this anymore and I have nothing to distract me.

I don't know how to describe it, it's like I don't feel like I'm in my bed anymore it just feels like me and my thoughts and nowhere to go and I get really shaky and hyperventilate and stuff. If it's a particularly bad one I won't feel okay for the rest of the day after I wake up.

I've never tried that idea of having a set wake up time, I just set alarms sometimes if I think I need them, thanks for that I'll definitely try it

Former Member

Hi @Apollo ,

Sleep is tricky and I feel it's one of those things that is very difficult to master.
Some tips that help me are:

• Sleeping with my phone outside the room
• If you wake up in the night or are struggling with getting to sleep, don't keep checking the time as it can have the opposite effect and make one feel more nervous that you're not sleeping which keeps you awake.
• Spending the day outside of my room even if I have nothing on
• Doing something active during the day
• Having a shower / bath before bed
• Not watching tv or social media right before bed (although I know this one is difficult as sometimes it can be beneficial to distract the mind from one's thoughts. )

Hopefully this gives you some ideas to try.

Former Member

@Friendlyneighbour thank you for these ideas I will definitely try them

SpaceOtter

Heya @Apollo sending lots of hugs.

I don’t know if this will help, but for a while I was struggling with thoughts and I’d end up staying up way too late trying to avoid being left alone with them.
What helped me was setting a routine in the evening, at the same time every night I’d change into pyjamas/brush teeth and just generally starting to wind down after a certain time normally about 8. I used to then watch a tv show as a distraction. Then listen to music for half hour before going to sleep. Sometimes in rough nights I’d write letters to my future self. It didn’t work at first it took a while but eventually the routine didn’t feel like such a chore, and sleep was no longer something I dreaded.

Also I found it easier to slowly change my sleep schedule. instead of going straight from sleeping at 3am to trying to sleep at 10. I’d try to get to sleep half an hour earlier every couple days. Until eventually I was going to bed by half 11.

Something I also read is the longer you stay still in bed the harder it becomes to get to sleep so getting up and walking around or just doing something else can actually really help.

And remember if you ever need to get your thoughts we’re here and there’s help lines too. You don’t have to go through this alone.

Take care Apollo

Former Member

Thanks for the advice @SpaceOtter