I'm having sleeping problems

[joe the janitor]

It's not that I can't go to sleep it's just that it takes me a very long time. Even when I am tired I'll still be staring at the wall for an hour. I've tried reading but that hasn't reallt worked. What are some tricks you use to go to sleep

*Not sure if this should be on offtopic or on addvice*

 

[Hashime]

You got the right forum.
I too have sleep problems, I have consulted with a doctor and psychologist and they have no idea what is wrong.
Yours seem minor though. I would suggest melatonin. It works well and is over the counter.

 

[RaDeuX]

Well for me it has been a number of things. Diet, exercise, environment, et cetera.

First off, I don't recommend the use of sleep aids or medicine. 90% of illnesses can be cured and/or prevented without medication. With that being said...

- Is your sleep schedule consistent?
- Do you give yourself an hour to rest your eyes from bright screens? (computer screens, TVs, cell phone, and so on) These devices can stimulate your brain and keep you awake for longer than you should.
- While we're on the topic of brightness, how dark is it in your room? If it isn't pitch black, it's possible that you still might be stimulated from even the smallest lights (e.g. LED from an alarm clock can even keep you awake). If it isn't pitch black, you can do what I do since I have way way WAY too many electronic devices in my room to cover all the LEDs for by putting on an eyemask/sleepmask/blindfold. Get the ones that don't press on your eyeballs, as those can be bothersome as well.

 

[LarenzoAOG]

I had the same problems too, it took hours to fall asleep and I was always waking up, first, make sure your bed is comfy, next, don't do anything fun for 30 minutes before you go to bed, listen to soft music, and buy melatonin, its the chemical that controls your natural sleep cycle, it really helps and never causes you to have a dead sleep.

 

[blankedboy]

Same here. Some days I take aaages to get to sleep, occasionally I get the bliss of about 10 minutes. I love those nights.

 

[Stollos]

I used to have sleeping problems exactly the same as yours. I used to think I was tired, and I'd go to bed at reasonable hours if I had something like school the next day, but I eventually figured out that I wasn't actually tired. I boiled it down to lack of energy-burning activity during the day and exciting/stimulating computer games during the hours before I went to bed. Now that I have a job and a regular exercise routine, I fall asleep fast, and hard. I've had some of the best and most rejuvinating sleep in my life when i've been fatigued. And I can even do it after a good gaming session.

My advice: structure your day and do activities that will leave you genuinely tired by the time you want to go to bed. It worked for me and as an added bonus, I have trippier and more awesome dreams when I'm super tired/fatigued from physical activity (not sleep deprivation).

 

[superbatranger]

I have the same problem as well. It takes me up to...2 hours to get to sleep. Sometimes it takes me longer than that.

 

[Jamieson 90]

Try putting a blanket under you, I used to have a really hard time sleeping, I still do sometimes but not to the same extent. You could just have a really uncomfortable matress, by putting the a blanket under you make it a lot more comfortable, give it a try it might work for you.

Other than that avoid drinks with sugar and caffeine. Also try not to use a computer or watch TV before you go to bed. Also check the temperature in your room it might be too hot or cold etc.

 

[Doclector]

Also try not to use a computer or watch TV before you go to bed.

I dunno, personally I have trouble sleeping some times because I think too much, I keep worrying about things that happened during the day, what may happen tomorrow, sometimes even things that happened years ago or things I have nothing to with occupy my mind. I often find when this happens, falling asleep with a film on is perfect, as log as it's the right film. It has to have no relation to what I'm worried about, and low on depth, but attention grabbing enough to get my mind off what I'm thinking of. A good dumb action movie works every time. So you might want to give it a try, or if that's unnacceptable, try putting on the radio. Again, don't make it something related to whatever you're thinking about, and make it talk radio, getting to sleep with music playing is damn near impossible.

EDIT: BTW, you'll probabally wake back up earlier than you would normally this way, but if you're anything like me, by then, the hard part of actually getting your mind to a state fit for sleep is passed by then, and you'll find it easy to get up, turn the TV/radio off, and go back to sleep.