I’m having trouble sleeping

[Morgan241191]

Help! I can’t seem to get to sleep easily. Even when I exercise during the day, drink warm milk in the evening and get off my electronic devices an hour before bed, I end up falling asleep more than an hour after I get into bed. I also wake up frequently during the night and have trouble falling asleep afterwards. Does anyone have any tips for me?

[PamelaR]

Hi Morgan

Sleep, yeh. I have struggled with sleep all my life. So I'm probably not the best one to give advice.

There is a 'sleep' thread under the Staying Well Forum where people share their stories. Maybe this might be useful. You can find it by doing a search in BB search field for sleep or do a google search for - Sleep Beyond Blue.

I note from some of your posts you have anxiety. I also get anxiety and often get triggered before going to bed, generally by watching or listening to news, watching movies or shows that contain assault, violence, etc. So I’ve very mindful of what I watch these days.

Physical reasons for not sleeping

• Coffee is a huge stimulant for me after 1pm, as is chocolate, MSG, (including soy sauce).
• Alcohol is also a stimulant. Reduce intake.
• To help with physical reasons I drinking a calming tea - e.g. chamomile, bedtime.
• Games that are stimulating. I’ve found some very calming and peaceful ones that relax the body and mind.

Mental active mind for not sleeping

• Identify what’s on my mind that’s making it stay awake. I stop worrying - put those worrisome thoughts down on paper. Make a specific time for the next day to look at these.

Hope some of this helps Morgan.
Kind regards
PamelaR

[Ggrand]

Hello Morgan,

I think a lot of people with mental health issues do have lots of trouble getting to sleep and then staying asleep..I’m the same, and have trouble sleeping at times...

What works for me is a guided meditation for around 10 minutes, then I will put an instrumental on my phone with my earplugs in, select an instrument and follow that right through or until I fall asleep....What works for one doesn’t necessarily work for another...

We have a sleep thread here on BB which has a lot of really good ideas to getting to sleep and staying asleep. The thread title is....”sleep“...top right hand corner on this page is a little search engine..if you search Sleep it will pop up and you can read through the thread, ask questions or just join in the conversation....

I really hope that you can find something that will help you sleep, I think lack of sleep puts our mind in overdrive and it’s harder to manage our mental health...

Im wishing you all the best Morgan, and if you want, please keep in touch with us and let us know how you go...

Kind and caring thoughts..

Grandy...