Insomnia Support Group
Insomnia is a symptom, rather than a disease, and is characterized by inadequate quantity or quality of sleep. People with insomnia complain of difficulty falling or staying asleep, which results in significant impairment of daytime functioning. Insomnia is categorized as transient (shorter than one week), short-term (one to three weeks) or chronic (longer than three...
1. What are some "approved" before bed time activities to do? My hobbies of sports, exercise, art and such seem to interferre with sleep because they get your mind going, if I do them within 2 or 3 hours of when I place to sleep. I've even heard watching TV on and the internet are bad before bed. So what can I do that won't interfere with my sleep and won't make me go mad before bed?
2. Is resting bad for sleep or no? You guys say if you must nap, to keep it short. Well how about lying with your eyes closed and just resting? The last few days I've felt the need to do this, when my legs are really tired. I just lay down, not trying to sleep or anything but just resting.
2. Is resting bad for sleep or no? You guys say if you must nap, to keep it short. Well how about lying with your eyes closed and just resting? The last few days I've felt the need to do this, when my legs are really tired. I just lay down, not trying to sleep or anything but just resting.
I'll take a shot at answering your questions.
1) My mantra for activities are to do something you don't mind doing as long as it's low light, low noise and low tech. Honestly reading a printed book (or listening to a book on tape) seems a great thing to do. It can take your mind someplace else, away from performance anxiety of getting to sleep. Old photos can also work well. When you lie down, relive the images. Some people like TV for distraction, but they emit erratic sound levels and also light of course. Plus time seems to go quickly as one program leads right into the next, and before you know it it's very late. Same with computer or smartphone.
2) Resting can feel great for our sore muscles, but remember it is not sleep. So it does not seem to come with the mental restoration of sleep. Also, being awake in bed can lead to a bit of conditioned insomnia, so be very careful of that. And yes, for naps it is recommended they are kept short and early, and only if absolutely necessary. You want to carry as much of your natural sleep drive with you to bed at night.
My $0.02. Hope it helps. I think ultimately you have to experiment and maybe even document what works and what doesn't.
harp