Get a Better Night’s Sleep
Lots of people have a hard time falling and staying asleep each night. Quite a few people are walking around and going to work suffering from a perpetual sleep deficit. Other people may try desperate measures, such as self medication to get enough sleep. You shouldn’t become reconciled to getting by on less sleep than you need. Sleeping well does not come easily to everyone, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible for you. The techniques outlined below can be very effective for promoting sound sleep.
Don’t watch TV right before going to bed at night. Watching on your smart phone or laptop amounts to the same thing. Make the last hour before going to bed one where you’re not watching, texting or playing at anything on a screen. If you feel the need for some stimulation, stick to something with sound only. Television or anything that shows moving images, however, are no different to the brain that actively participating in the scenario you’re watching. It is harder for you to fall asleep if you simply turn off the television and roll over. So set aside a quiet, or at least image-free, hour before bed.
A physician or mental health professional will be able to find out if there’s a reason you’re having trouble sleeping that needs to be addressed. A doctor can search for any medical issues, while a counselor or psychologist can find out if there’s anything troubling you that you need to talk about. That way, you won’t be overlooking any problem that requires more than just over-the-counter or self help remedies. While a prescribed medication may not be a long term solution, it may be necessary for getting some sleep right away, and your doctor can determine if this is a good idea. While eating a large meal before bed may contribute to insomnia, a small, strategically planned snack can actually help you get to sleep. Your brain chemistry responds to certain foods, causing it to send “sleepy” messages to your whole body. Nuts, milk that’s been warmed up and turkey will all have this effect. Tryptophan is what causes turkey to make you sleepy, so eating an unadorned slice or two of turkey with some milk that’s been slightly warmed up is a great insomnia fighting snack. Eating turkey at Thanksgiving and other holidays is a contributing factor to why you tend to want to go to sleep afterward.
Thirdly, if all else fails, simply let yourself arise and go into another room for a while. Leave the bedroom altogether. One of the most frustrating feelings in the world is that of tossing and turning as you try to fall asleep at night. On top of the insomnia, when you can’t sleep you become stressed-out as a result. This just makes matters worse. After the first 30 minutes, if you are still restless, get up and find something relaxing to do. Here is a solution that works for a lot of people: they have discovered that simply reading a good book – in a different room – can put them in the right frame of mind to go quickly to sleep when they return to bed.
When the room is dark it is easier to sleep. This should be a no brainer but you would be surprised at how many people get frustrated that they can’t fall asleep in rooms filled with light. The light won’t make much of a difference if you are tired enough. The brain knows that night-time is for sleeping, so when you are having a difficult time with your sleep, a really dark room will signal your brain that it is time to sleep. People who normally sleep during the day and work at night could be well served with some blackout curtains to help them fall asleep easier after a shift. Here is the good news: you do not have to simply deal with not getting enough sleep. There are a lot of steps that you can take to increase your chances of falling and staying asleep each night. The old-timey folk medicine treatments for a lot of conditions are full of wisdom and many of them work quite well. You can find many of these online with a little research. The next step, if they don’t work, is a trip to your doctor. You can get some prescription medication to help you temporarily while your doctor figures out what the problem is that is causing your insomnia. Whatever happens don’t give up: sleep can be yours!
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