Methods to stop thinking for sleep & Keeping awake

[Fruitjuice]

What the title says.

I have periods (time periods of days, weeks or months, huge variance in length) when it doesn't matter what it is, my mind will replay anything and everything, even if they're from over 10 years ago and happens to be the first thing my mind finds in itself. My head hurts when the thoughts don't stop, which is pretty much every night when it happens. Music doesn't help much, because they get replayed too and it ends up being worse.

I usually end up waking early and never being able to go back to sleep, because once my brain realizes I'm awake, it floods itself with thoughts. First it's like a small stream...and then when other parts of the brain get the message it's like...a tsunami of thoughts. Then the worries come in...and anxiety, I tense up and then, well...yeah...

While I'm asking...any methods to keep awake when you start getting bored of something...?

I'm not taking medication and really...don't want to.

[Targaryen]

For sleep have you tried exercise? I recently started some intense exercise and my anxietly has went down a lot along with the inner chatter in my mind that would keep me up at night bc I am so drained now at bedtime. I was taking melatonin to get back into a regular sleeping habit but I have not had to take it for the past few days.

[ohhshiney]

Exercise can work, but not TOO close to bedtime. Likewise, don't go to bed hungry, but don't eat right before bed.

These things sometimes work for me:

• Count backwards from 100 by 7
• Deep breathing, 6 breaths a minute (5 seconds in, 5 seconds out) for 5 minutes
• Bed only for sleeping or s*x, no TV or computer usage
• If you don't fall asleep within 20 minutes, get up and do something OUT OF BED

I also sometimes try to label my intrusive thoughts as intrusive thoughts. I.E., take a ZEN approach. The thoughts are there, see them as intrusive, and gently tell yourself that you are not going to thing about that now. I VISUALIZE my consciousness as a bubble, and the intrusive thoughts are outside the bubble trying to get in. I visualize myself reaching up and gently pushing the intrusive thoughts OUT of the bubble as they occur. Don't get angry at the thoughts, simply nudge them away. You can tell yourself you are going to deal with them later. You might even keep a pencil near the bed to jot them down if you are afraid they are important enough you might forget them. (You may be surprised in the morning what was keeping you awake).

Someone posted a link somewhere to a description of "DETACHED MINDFULNESS". This can be described as accepting the thoughts, but just ignoring them.
They said to imagine

"your mind as a station and the image as a train. You just let it pass through your mind. It's on a circular track so it will come around again, and again, but you just notice it as it passes through - "oh, there's that image again"."

[Drewbacca]

Is it rumination/depression?

Regardless, you could try a sleep-hypnosis cd.

[DvlsAdv0c8]

Originally Posted by Drewbacca

...you could try a sleep-hypnosis cd.

Or white noise. I LOVE white noise. The trick is to find the right kind. I use a fan in the summer and portable heater in the winter.

I posted this on another forum a couple of weeks ago, mostly kinda goofy but you might be able to find something useful:

http://www.theawl.com/2012/08/white-noise-reviewed

http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-sleep001.gif

[Fruitjuice]

Originally Posted by Targaryen

For sleep have you tried exercise? I recently started some intense exercise and my anxietly has went down a lot along with the inner chatter in my mind that would keep me up at night bc I am so drained now at bedtime. I was taking melatonin to get back into a regular sleeping habit but I have not had to take it for the past few days.

It might be because I don't normally exercise, but the times that I do, and I burn myself out so bad I can barely stand, I still twist and turn in bed when it's during one of these time periods that I can't sleep But anxiety helping..hm...perhaps I haven't exercised enough to fully feel those effects. Thanks!

Originally Posted by ohhshiney

Exercise can work, but not TOO close to bedtime. Likewise, don't go to bed hungry, but don't eat right before bed.

These things sometimes work for me:

• Count backwards from 100 by 7
• Deep breathing, 6 breaths a minute (5 seconds in, 5 seconds out) for 5 minutes
• Bed only for sleeping or s*x, no TV or computer usage
• If you don't fall asleep within 20 minutes, get up and do something OUT OF BED

I also sometimes try to label my intrusive thoughts as intrusive thoughts. I.E., take a ZEN approach. The thoughts are there, see them as intrusive, and gently tell yourself that you are not going to thing about that now. I VISUALIZE my consciousness as a bubble, and the intrusive thoughts are outside the bubble trying to get in. I visualize myself reaching up and gently pushing the intrusive thoughts OUT of the bubble as they occur. Don't get angry at the thoughts, simply nudge them away. You can tell yourself you are going to deal with them later. You might even keep a pencil near the bed to jot them down if you are afraid they are important enough you might forget them. (You may be surprised in the morning what was keeping you awake).

Someone posted a link somewhere to a description of "DETACHED MINDFULNESS". This can be described as accepting the thoughts, but just ignoring them.
They said to imagine

Thank you for all the suggestions and ideas, but....I did try to let them just run through my head without minding, but that seems to make my mind think it's okay and then it starts pouring thoughts in to make sure I'm overwhelmed..;_; I write down a lot of things I just remembered I need to get done at night because I keep forgetting things...and I've tried doing things out of bed to get tired, it just makes me even more awake I've tried counting numbers and backwards too, but my brain gets angry at the effort and boredom, and it wakes up out of frustration.........

Originally Posted by Drewbacca

Is it rumination/depression?

Regardless, you could try a sleep-hypnosis cd.

I initially thought so, but I ruminate about happy things, sad things, annoying things, what I had for dinner, what movie I watched, music I listened to 10 years ago -so I'm quite sure it isn't me being angsty.

Originally Posted by DvlsAdv0c8

Or white noise. I LOVE white noise. The trick is to find the right kind. I use a fan in the summer and portable heater in the winter.

I posted this on another forum a couple of weeks ago, mostly kinda goofy but you might be able to find something useful:

http://www.theawl.com/2012/08/white-noise-reviewed

http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-sleep001.gif

I really like the white noise suggestion, and it has worked for me sometimes. But the problem is other little sudden sounds like creaking, or my father suddenly kicking the wall hard next door (he does it so often, hard...and he's sleeping alone) jolts me awake immediately and these disturbing noises can be as small as just someone walking outside T_T

[Only one]

Oh my gosh dude that's exactly how I am. But nobody seems to show respect, I tell the problem and family members still find ways to wake me up like calling my phone and after that it just sucks. With People or not I have trouble going to sleep its just how you explained it just like that and I also sometimes wake up early. I didn't read everybody post but I will to see if anything work

[CheekyMonkey]

1. Go to sleep and wake up at same time every day

2. Have bedtime routine, wind down 1/2 hour before bed




I like to read before bed to keep my mind focused instead of wandering

[phantasm]

Try not to eat 2 hours before bed. That one made a huge difference for me. The energy you get from food stimulates your thoughts. So everything seems worth thinking about when you're trying to sleep.

I feel your pain though. I live in a condo community and right on a community park and people are always walking past my unit at all hours of the night and playing basketball in the dark up at the park. I have a fan going, sound machine going, I count sheep, exercise, don't eat before bed and if I hear 1 tiny sound outside of the ordinary, I am wide awake. Beyond frustrating.