Anyone else immediately begin thinking the moment you try to sleep?

[WritingIsMyReligion]

The MOMENT I turn the damned light off, my thoughts are--WHAM! Outta here! Then I get all worked up, in a tithy, because I invariably think of something really dark and freaky, and then I can't stop thinking about it. And trying to think of something pleasant does no good half the time, because then these pleasant things become "mutated" by the dark suckers lurking in my mind.

So then I just grab the Benadryl and wait for sleep to hit me. Not exactly pleasant. I did that just last night and then began to read, waiting, and the next thing I knew I was waking up in the morning, and the damned reading light was still on, and my book was all mangled underneath me. Weird. I don't even remember falling asleep, but I obviously did while I was reading.

Oh, and I used up the last of the Benadryl last night, so tonight--I'm guessing I won't be able to sleep again now that I've written this x( x(--I am really screwed.

It's not that I'm not tired, really, it's just that I start thinking, and that gets me worked up and frightened. Maybe I just need to sleep with the light on--do thoughts seem less malicious when it isn't dark?

How do y'all keep your minds relatively blank while trying to fall asleep??

:( :(

:boring:

[miss_american_pie]

1. Get up out of bed

go somewhere else and write it all out until you start to feel tired again.

Sorry you aren't sleeping well. :hug:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

4. I just want to fall asleep, dammit.

I like to be awake one moment and asleep the next....I don't like lying there, waiting.

:( :(

[miss_american_pie]

6. You don't have a choice, do you?

And may I delicately ask if this could be cycle related?

[WritingIsMyReligion]

10. I don't know what it is.

x( x( x(

Hormones--well, maybe. But last night I was thinking about what I had read online about A.I, since people here were talking about it so much. The mere SYNOPSIS of that movie really disturbed me.

:scared:

:cry:

:grr:

[Whoa_Nelly]

45. Totally agree with miss_american_pie! and after you do that...

Then grab a book, read, fall asleep, drop the book, have that wake you up and then turn out the light and fall asleep.... It's what I do.

The main point being is that you have a routine to get that out of your system, have it removed from you worry list,and you can settle down to a decent sleep no matter how long or short :hug: :loveya:


Get a planned routine for when you have nights like this. It really helps, and you don;t feel robbed of a good sleep period.

It may be shorter, but it will help make it deep :hug:

[smokey nj]

2. I sleep with the television on n/t

[LeftyMom]

3. I do

I can't say what about or the mods will beat me with a rubber hose. :D

[WritingIsMyReligion]

5. Pfffffft....

:rofl::rofl:

I've tried THAT kind of thinking, too, and it doesn't work. I guess my will just isn't strong enough.

[LeftyMom]

7. Gee, I have to try to think of anything else.

:blush:

I can't help it, I blame that one fella. He's sexy. :P

[WritingIsMyReligion]

11. Which one fella?

:evilgrin:

[LeftyMom]

13. Nobody knows.

It's my secret. :rofl:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

15. Damn.

:P

[WCGreen]

24. Such a secret....

George Bush would be envious of your ability to keep a secret....

[LeftyMom]

26. George Bush would be envious of my ability to spell secret.

:P

[WCGreen]

28. LOL

[GOPisEvil]

8. I have a similar problem.

When my brain finally shuts down, I sleep very well. It's also the reason I can't sleep in. As soon as I wake up, my brain starts up again. :sigh:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

14. Yeah--I never wake up once I'm asleep, unless I'm dreaming or something.

It's getting to sleep that is difficult.

x(

[Mutley]

9. I make up boring stories in my head.

Like of sitting in terrible classes with profs who drone on and on and on... :boring:






Wha...?? Where am I?

[WritingIsMyReligion]

16. I USED to review every single thing I had done that day.

Put me out like a candle swiftly snuffed.

Unfortunately, I don't really DO much right now...So there isn't much to recall!

;)

[tinfoilinfor2005]

12. Ellen Degeneres did a great bit about this on one of her HBO

comedy specials. If they ever rerun it, try to catch it. Absolutely hysterical.

Someone told me once to pretend that I was being interviewed by Barbara Walters (or someone like that). In the process of trying to answer mundane questions; what is your favorite movie, favorite recipe, etc., the mind is lulled into sleep.

I tried it and oddly enough it works like a charm to this day.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

17. I find that trying to list mundane things, etc. really does help, if I .

can keep my mind on doing so.

Not that DU'ers are boring, but I HAVE fallen asleep to listing every single DU'er I could think of--I got through 20 or 30 names and started to repeat them....

:evilgrin:

[Kajsa]

18. I play a game with my mind.

As soon as I start to replay the day, worry about
what might happen, etc.
I tell myself
" OK- you can lay here worrying about everything,
or you can try to rest. Forget about falling asleep,
just rest."

It works! The minute I worry about not falling asleep,
I don't.!

I hope this helps.

Get some rest tonight and try not to worry.

:D :hi:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

20. I try to trick my mind.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

If I did more with my day, got more tired, I might not have such issues in the first place.

;)

[ZombieNixon]

19. No, usually I begin to sleep whenever I try and think.

It's why I never get anything done. x( :D

[WritingIsMyReligion]

21. Fool.

:P

How's FReepland?

:hi:

[ZombieNixon]

22. How the fuck would I know?

I've been stuck in the Matrix and haven't gone outside for the past twenty-four hours. x(

Well...except to see Pirates of the Caribbean with a friend...that was pretty good. :D

[WritingIsMyReligion]

23. I saw that!

I liked it very much. :D

[WCGreen]

25. Learn some relaxation techniques....

Say a mantra...

Like, I believe in Mary Worth....

Over and over again...

And oh yea, don't forget to be looking in a mirror while you are chanting...

[WritingIsMyReligion]

29. What's the mirror do?

:shrug:

:hi:

[WCGreen]

30. Oh, it's an old thing from my childhood...

You were suppose to see the devil in the mirror....

After chanting for a long time...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

27. Well, I have a couple of ideas......

Relaxation techniques are a very good idea......

I have used them, and they help a lot....

Nowadays, I just stay up till I'm falling over...half dead!

That seems to work too....

Good luck, sweetie......:hug:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

31. That's what I'm trying now.

Zombie-style! 'Tis almost 11:45 here!

:D

:hug:

[RagingInMiami]

32. That's the story of my life

It's the only time when my is not focused on doing anything else. I get some of my best ideas when I try to sleep. That is why I keep a pen and paper next to my bed.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

33. I have pen and paper in my room,

though not necessarily near my bed.

:7

:hi:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

34. I focus on my breathing

Otherwise I'd be awake all night. :hug: I hope you soon find inner peace.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

36. Inner peace'd be grand.

:hug:

[ghostsofgiants]

35. I hate when that happens.

And it happens way too often. x(

[Floogeldy]

37. You need to exercise more.

It clears out the cobwebs and tires the body. Good brain chemicals get stimulated and released. The body seeks rest and shuts down the potentially busy brain. Also, avoid caffeine and sugar at all costs. Don't eat processed foods, either.

You will sleep like a baby.

Luv ya,

Floog

[WritingIsMyReligion]

38. I've heard that.

I should go and run my legs off tomorrow....

:7

:hi:

:boring:

[Floogeldy]

39. That might be a little drastic.

But, hey, what the heck? Try to slowly incorporate my suggestions into your life.

Worked for me. :)

[jpgray]

41. Also, don't trust people--they'll only hurt you

[NMMNG]

40. My mind goes whirling as soon as I go to bed

I distract it by putting on an audiobook. By listening to the story my mind is focused on that instead of all of the myriad chaotic things that would keep me awake.

[barb162]

42. Do you have a lot of caffeine during the day or evening?

I will tell you, once I stopped the colas and coffee in the late afternoon, I didn't have problems sleeping

[Haole Girl]

43. It doesn't happen to me as often as when I was young

Wish I had some pearls of wisdom for you. Here's one that works: I never read in bed, anymore..and it helps. Used to read in bed until I learned in an article how it can attribute to insomnia. The article discussed how to reserve your bed for actual sleeping (and, of course, the other activity, in bed, which would also get me beaten by a hose by the mods, if discussed).

[otherlander]

44. How do I? I don't. I was thinking about all kinds of crap last night...

Started thinking that I couldn't change anything because it seemed like the world just kept going in circles and I was trapped in the whole stupid pattern. I was born during the Gulf War when George Bush was president, I'm going to graduate high school during the Gulf War with George Bush as president, and the stupid kid from art class might possibly die in the Gulf War BECAUSE George Bush is president.

I guess you could say that thoughts seem less malicious when it isn't dark. I never thought of it that way, but I like to be able to see where I am.

Anyway, I have the internet on my cellphone so I went online and read poetry and the light was kind of hypnotizing and eventually I fell asleep.