Sleep. It is that thing you do when you get in bed, close your eyes and wake up the next morning. Surely it should be that simple? You have been doing it all your life so we all should be pretty good at it having practised everyday. However when depression or anxiety happen sleep is often the thing you need most but yet the hardest to achieve. My post is about the effects of sleep or not sleeping upon my emotional health and tips for what has worked for me. They may not work for everyone but they are a starting point for me.
My sleep started being effected really as my dad started to become more depressed in the summer of 2010. When my Dad died it obviously got worse but then I went travelling and sleep was always interesting at times. Jet lag and long journeys often resulted in missing sleep but it did not really matter as I could just catch up whenever and was always something exciting. To help I was using rescue remedy tablets which are herbal and I found really did help with jet lag to just calm me down to sleep.
But coming home was a different story and my sleep got much much worse. I had problems with being able to switch off, to be able to get to sleep as once asleep I would be out. Some nights I would just watch TV on my laptop until 2am in the morning and then get up for teaching the next day at 7am. I would tell myself just 10 more minutes or just one more programme. Then once that time had lapsed would say again to myself the same thing. I would only turn off the light to sleep once I knew I would fall asleep.
Some nights would be ok and others I would sleep at 2am so I was able to cope with this until around September time. I was also on summer holidays from school so most of the summer I just slept when I wanted and the lack of routine was bad. When I went back to work in the September last year it started getting harder to sleep and most nights I was on about 6 hours a night and was able to just about live on that. I split up with the guy I had been seeing in a very bad situation and that set my sleep off even worse.
To make things even worse in November I got pneumonia and during this time my friendship deteriorating with my ex and also missing out on a job I really wanted sent my sleep even worse. I was still living at home and the situation was so tense that I only felt at rest once my mum and her boyfriend had gone to bed. I went back to work and again was surviving on 5 to 6 hours a night of sleep. However being weak from the pneumonia I was really only on verge of surviving on that. I know I needed sleep to get better yet would waste my time watching TV on my laptop even rubbish programmes knowing I could watch them anytime.
I knew watching TV and being on the computer was trying to avoid that quiet time and that time to think and worry as you fall asleep. I would worry over small things about the next day or something somebody had said to me that day. I would worry about things I knew would be ok but I could make a mountain out of a molehill. Once I got to sleep it would be ok but the next morning I would not feel like it had been restful. I would often have very bad physical ticks when falling asleep which would wake me up again and unnerve me.
I knew watching TV and being on the computer was trying to avoid that quiet time and that time to think and worry as you fall asleep. I would worry over small things about the next day or something somebody had said to me that day. I would worry about things I knew would be ok but I could make a mountain out of a molehill. Once I got to sleep it would be ok but the next morning I would not feel like it had been restful. I would often have very bad physical ticks when falling asleep which would wake me up again and unnerve me.
As things came to Christmas and a lot of stress surrounding that I went to the doctor to see if they would give me sleeping tablets really just so I could function in the last week of work and over the holiday. The doctor did give me sleeping tablets and I remember the first night I took them waking up in the morning was like a relief. I had actually felt like I had slept properly and not tossing and turning all night. Christmas was a horrible time and the sleeping tablets helped but I knew it was not a long term situation. I hated the feeling of the tablets as would feel like a zombie and mixing them with alcohol was a massive no. Trust me I tried and it was horrid.
After Christmas break I was only working 2 or 3 days a week so my strength started to recover from being ill and so I was better even though I was not sleeping any better. I finally got a full time job and moved out 2 weeks ago. I had been wondering if my new anti depressants had been causing insomnia but I would not know until I had moved out.
After Christmas break I was only working 2 or 3 days a week so my strength started to recover from being ill and so I was better even though I was not sleeping any better. I finally got a full time job and moved out 2 weeks ago. I had been wondering if my new anti depressants had been causing insomnia but I would not know until I had moved out.
Moving out and the effect of that on my sleep has been amazing. I knew one of my problems was that I spent all my time at home in my small single bedroom. One big tip is to only use your bedroom for sleep but this was impossible to do at my mum's house. Now in my own house my bedroom is a TV and laptop free zone. The only thing I do in my room is sleep. I also have to make that decision to physically get ready to go to bed and actually move into my room which helps. It also means that I now read in bed rather then play about on my computer which is something I had really missed giving myself time for.
Occasionally now I still take herbal sleeping tablets if I am feeling anxious but generally I can fall asleep naturally at about 10:30 to 11pm every night. I sleep properly and ready to wake up when my alarm goes off. I feel re energised and more ready to tackle the day. I feel ready to sleep and do not worry about things when I fall asleep now as I enjoy a good book first.
Sleep has a massive effect on your ability to function even as a normal person let alone when you have anxiety and depression. It would effect my ability to concentrate, to speak in a clear, normal way and it would effect how I would cope with change. I am still not great when plans change or people do not do what I ask but I am getting better.
So my top tips for better sleep:
1. Only sleep in your bedroom. No TV or laptop. I still have my phone as I use it for alarm but do not use Internet on it.
2. Learn what you need to make you sleep better. Things like light, noise and temperature of the room can have an effect.
3. If you need sleeping tablets on a short term basis use them to get sleep back into some sort of routine so that you can then improve things. Use them when you really need them.
4. Relax before you go to bed whether it be reading a book or listening to music.
5. Use body wash and lotion that has lavender in it which can help with sleep.
6. Create your own routine for each night to do before you go to bed so that it forces you to start with but then becomes habit.
I do not really believe about do not have a meal 2 hours before bed as this for me with my lifestyle just does not work. All the tips that have helped me within my own lifestyle.
Getting better sleep has improved my mood and my anxiety leaps and bounds. Now just to sort out my symptoms of IBS I have.
Occasionally now I still take herbal sleeping tablets if I am feeling anxious but generally I can fall asleep naturally at about 10:30 to 11pm every night. I sleep properly and ready to wake up when my alarm goes off. I feel re energised and more ready to tackle the day. I feel ready to sleep and do not worry about things when I fall asleep now as I enjoy a good book first.
Sleep has a massive effect on your ability to function even as a normal person let alone when you have anxiety and depression. It would effect my ability to concentrate, to speak in a clear, normal way and it would effect how I would cope with change. I am still not great when plans change or people do not do what I ask but I am getting better.
So my top tips for better sleep:
1. Only sleep in your bedroom. No TV or laptop. I still have my phone as I use it for alarm but do not use Internet on it.
2. Learn what you need to make you sleep better. Things like light, noise and temperature of the room can have an effect.
3. If you need sleeping tablets on a short term basis use them to get sleep back into some sort of routine so that you can then improve things. Use them when you really need them.
4. Relax before you go to bed whether it be reading a book or listening to music.
5. Use body wash and lotion that has lavender in it which can help with sleep.
6. Create your own routine for each night to do before you go to bed so that it forces you to start with but then becomes habit.
I do not really believe about do not have a meal 2 hours before bed as this for me with my lifestyle just does not work. All the tips that have helped me within my own lifestyle.
Getting better sleep has improved my mood and my anxiety leaps and bounds. Now just to sort out my symptoms of IBS I have.
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