I have bipolar one disorder. This is a fact that informs much of my day-to-day living. I need to take my medication, stay on top of my therapy appointments, go for bloodwork, strive for a balanced lifestyle and, above all else, maintain a solid, restful, regular sleep routine. When I don’t sleep, whether due to anxious thoughts, or having had too much alcohol earlier in the evening, or from just being keyed up due to the EXCITEMENT of life, it can spell bad news for me. One night of poor sleep could easily spiral into two nights, then three, and then the next thing I know: BOOM! Manic episode.
In order to avoid that highly unpleasant outcome, I have devised a guide for myself in order to get restful sleep. I am honored to share it here in this blog article! Even if you don’t have a serious mental illness, I hope that you still find my words to be helpful. My first suggestion is to let a night of poor sleep be just that. It’s not great, but it’s also not the end of the world. Many times the worst part of having insomnia wasn’t actually missing out on sleep, but rather having extremely anxious thoughts/feelings about the missing sleep. In my 20’s I worried a lot about missing work due to my sleep issues. I felt very guilty about how often I called-in sick. None of this anxiety helped me to achieve better sleep and I ended up losing my not-for-profit GED teaching job despite my fretting!
Instead of worrying about lost sleep, I recommend the following: First, become a Rigid Scientist, dedicated to studying your sleep patterns. In the morning, write down how many hours you imagine you got the night before onto a daily calendar or enter this information into an app on your phone. SMART watches can help you monitor your sleep time. Document this information every day to see if you can make out any patterns. Were certain days less stressful than others? Did you do something differently or interact with others in a different way on the nights you obtained more sleep? Are you getting more sleep on weekends? Weekdays? The second part of your rigidity will have to do with going to bed at the SAME TIME and waking up at the SAME TIME every night and every morning. I have strictly trained myself to go to sleep at 10:30 PM and to wake up at 6:30 AM. Even on the weekends, I aim to remain true to these hours, with about a one-hour grace period on either side. I don’t play around with this. I don’t nap. I don’t sleep in. I try not to stay out late. It could be argued that a part of the reason my marriage fell apart was due to my strict adherence to this policy… But, hey, I still have my current job and am functioning which are positives!
Next, speak with your doctor about any troubles you are having with your sleep. Bring your scientific data to your appointment. Show your doctor that you are taking your sleep problems seriously. They might send you for a sleep study to rule out medical conditions such as sleep apnea. It might be suggested that you go on a diet to lose weight or to increase your daily exercise. Getting some cardio into your daily routine will help you obtain better sleep. Movement tires your body out and can offer fantastic mental health rewards! I don’t suggest exercising right before bedtime, however, as that could rev you up too much for you to easily fall asleep. Your doctor might prescribe medication to help you fall asleep. A combination of over-the-counter Melatonin and prescribed Trazadone has been the magic combination which works wonders for me, when all of my other tricks have failed.
What are my other tricks? Reading quietly before bedtime, journaling my thoughts into my diary, drinking herbal tea to calm myself, offering up prayers of gratitude to the Universe and listening to free guided sleep mediation on Youtube. Jason Stevenson is my personal favorite meditative speaker. I find his Australian accent both sexy and highly relaxing. Keeping one’s bed supplied with fresh, clean linens and maintaining a tidy sleeping area can help with getting deep Zzzzz’s. My doctor also told me that the bedroom should be used solely for sleep and sex. All other activities (eating, watching shows, talking on the phone, etc) should be done in another room. This helps you train yourself that going to bed means that you are going to sleep. Don’t feel funny about using positive self-talk at nighttime, such as “It’s time for sleep now. I am ready to go to sleep, to get rest for my day tomorrow.”
What to avoid? Devices such as cell phones, tablets and TVs. They emit unnatural lighting that messes with our circadian rhythms. Turn off your devices at least an hour before bedtime. I’d also recommend staying away from caffeine like it’s the Devil. Keep in mind that caffeine is actually in decaffeinated coffee to a small degree, it’s in chocolate, it’s in many surprising things. Be sure to check labels and to tune into how your body responds to various substances. Some folks think that drinking alcohol or smoking cannabis can help them get to sleep. Maybe. Unfortunately, the sleep one gets after drinking isn’t a very deep sleep. Since booze is a diuretic, there’s a pretty good chance one will wake up needing to pee during the night and might not get back to sleep. The jury’s still out on cannabis use.
Those are some of my favorite, tried and true tricks for getting restful sleep. The most important thing to remember, though, is to treat yourself with compassion and gentleness as you work through your insomnia. The world of work has changed greatly in the past few years. Where I reside in New York State, there are medical leave forms in place to protect you if you need to take some time off from work to get your sleeping habits/mental health under control. I am more than happy to assist my clients in navigating this process, while also helping them to explore any underlying trauma, nightmares, intrusive memories, depression or anxiety that might be at the root of sleeplessness.
