How can I stop my thoughts and get some sleep?

How can I stop my thoughts and get some sleep?

Martin turns off the lights to go to sleep, but his mind quickly begins to act. He's preoccupied with hectic thoughts about work deadlines, his overdue car service, and his father's recent surgery.

As he struggles to fall asleep, the hours fly by. He is frustrated about how he will cope tomorrow. This is a pattern that Martin struggled with for many years.

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But what happens when your mind starts racing at night? And how do you manage to stop it?

It can happen to anyone

In bed, without other visual or auditory stimuli to occupy the mind, many people begin to have racing thoughts that keep them awake. This can happen at the beginning of the night or when they wake up during the night.

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The good news is that there are effective ways to reduce these racing thoughts and help you get some sleep. To do this, let’s take a step back and talk about insomnia.

What is insomnia?

If you're like Martin, you're not alone. Currently, up to six out of ten people regularly experience insomnia symptoms. One in ten people have suffered from these symptoms for months or years.

Insomnia includes problems falling asleep at the beginning of the night, waking up during the night, and feeling daytime sleepy, difficulty concentrating, lethargy, or low mood.

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Like Martin, many people with insomnia find that as soon as they go to bed, they feel alert and wide awake. So what's going on?

The more time we spend in bed doing things other than sleeping, the more our brains and bodies begin to learn that bed is a place for these non-sleeping activities.@media(min-width:0px){#div-gpt-ad-healthy_holistic_living_com-large-leaderboard-2-0-asloaded{max-width:336px!important;max-height:280px!important;}}

These activities don't just include worrying. You can use a cell phone, watch TV, eat, work, argue, smoke, or play with pets.

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Little by little, our brain can learn that bed is a place for these other activities instead of resting and sleeping. Over time, the simple act of going to bed can become a trigger for feeling more awake and awake. This is called “conditional insomnia.”

Here are six ways to spend less time awake in bed with racing thoughts.

1. Relearn to associate bed with sleep

Stimulus control therapy can help restore the relationship between bed and sleep.

Follow these simple steps every night of the week:

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• Benutzen Sie Ihr Bett nur zum Schlafen und für die Intimität. Alle anderen Aktivitäten sollten außerhalb des Bettes stattfinden, vorzugsweise in einem anderen Raum
• Gehen Sie nur zu Bett, wenn Sie sich schläfrig fühlen (wenn Ihre Augen schwer sind und Sie leicht einschlafen könnten). Wenn Sie sich nicht schläfrig fühlen, sollten Sie das Zubettgehen hinauszögern. Nutzen Sie diese Zeit, um in einem anderen Raum etwas Entspannendes zu tun
• Wenn Sie nach etwa 15 Minuten im Bett immer noch wach sind, stehen Sie auf und gehen Sie in ein anderes Zimmer. Machen Sie etwas anderes Entspannendes, bis Sie sich wieder schläfrig fühlen, z. B. ein Buch lesen, Radio hören, ein paar Hausarbeiten erledigen oder ein Kreuzworträtsel lösen. Vermeiden Sie alles, was zu anregend ist, wie Arbeit oder Computerspiele
• Wiederholen Sie die beiden oben genannten Schritte, bis Sie innerhalb von etwa 15 Minuten eingeschlafen sind. Das Ein- und Aussteigen kann mehrere Zyklen dauern. Aber während dieser Zeit steigt das natürliche Schlafbedürfnis Ihres Körpers und Sie werden schließlich innerhalb von 15 Minuten nach dem Zubettgehen einschlafen
• Stehen Sie jeden Morgen zur gleichen Zeit auf, egal wie viel Sie in der Nacht zuvor geschlafen haben
• Vermeiden Sie lange Mittagsschläfchen, da diese das Einschlafen in der Nacht erschweren können.

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Over several nights, this therapy builds the relationship between bed and sleep and reduces the relationship between bed and wakefulness and racing thoughts.

If you are still awake after about 15 minutes in bed, get up.

2. Distract yourself with nice thoughts

Negative thoughts in bed or worrying about the consequences of lack of sleep can make us feel more alert and worried, making it harder to fall asleep.

So try something called “cognitive refocusing.” Try replaying a happy memory, movie, or TV show to distract yourself from these negative thoughts.

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Ideally, this is a memory that you can remember very clearly and that evokes neutral or slightly positive feelings. Excessively positive or negative memories can lead to an increase in attention and mental activity.

3. Relax while you sleep

Relaxation therapy for insomnia aims to reduce attention and improve sleep.

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One option is to gradually tense and relax muscle groups throughout the body, called guided progressive muscle relaxation therapy.

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You can also try breathing exercises, calming music, visual imagery, or other relaxation exercises that feel right for you.

Part of getting a good night's sleep is avoiding late-night work or screen activity right before bed. Give yourself a “buffer zone” so you have time to relax before bed.

4. Worry earlier in the day

Schedule some “worry time” earlier in the day so these thoughts don’t happen at night. It may also be helpful to write down some of the things that are worrying you.

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When you find yourself worrying about things at night, you can remind yourself that you've already written them down and are waiting for you to work through them during your scheduled "worry time" the next day.

5. Be aware that it is normal to wake up at night

It may be helpful to know that briefly awakening from sleep is completely normal and not a sign of illness.

Sleep takes place in different “cycles” during the night. Each cycle lasts about 90 minutes and includes different phases of light, deep and dream sleep (REM).

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The majority of our deep sleep occurs in the first half of the night, and the majority of our light sleep occurs in the second half.

Everyone wakes up from sleep for a short time, but most people don't remember it the next morning.

6. What happens if these don't work?

If these don't work, the most effective next step is “cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia,” or CBT-i.

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This non-drug therapy targets the underlying causes of insomnia and results in lasting improvements in sleep, mental health, and daytime functioning.

You can complete a self-directed online program or access it through your primary care doctor or a mental health professional. Further details, including links to online programs, are available through the Sleep Health Foundation.

As part of a research study, we offer free access to online CBT-i. To find out more, contact me.

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The Sleep Health Foundation has several evidence-based resources on sleep health and insomnia.

Alexander Sweetman, Research Associate, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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