Sleep

Dear Tony,

As you have probably guessed, sleep is extremely important. Psychiatric problems can be intensified by sleeping difficulties; I think sleeping troubles might actually cause some mental health problems. All of my most serious mental crises either were preceded by or included substantial insomnia.

In order to stay healthy, I have learned to pay close attention to my sleeping and figure out when things are going badly astray. Everyone has nights when they do not sleep well, but trouble arises when you cannot sleep night after night.

If you are having trouble sleeping, try to relax. Being anxious about your sleeping can feed on itself and make the problem worse. You become worried about going through the next day without sleep and that worry keeps you awake. Tell yourself that you can do it, that you can make it through the next day even if you don't sleep well. You have functioned fine without enough sleep several times in the past. You can do it again if you need to.

For me, the main reason I cannot sleep is anxiety. Often it is a sign that there is a problem I am ignoring and need to address. Once I identify the problem I start to figure out precisely what I can do immediatley to address it and promise myself I will take those steps the next day. I tell myself that over and over again. Sometimes I need to address the problem immediately in the middle of the night. But most of the time it is enough to make a concrete plan about what you will do. For longer-term problems, try to think of something small you can do to address the situation. If you have honestly done everything you can that is helpful, tell yourself that over and over again. Other times I can't sleep because I am hungry and not aware of it. If so, just eat something. Try not to go overboard, but your need to sleep is more important than your diet.

Finally, if you start to have major problems sleeping, put these techniques into practice as much as you can and try to sleep as much as you can. As much as possible don't worry about when you sleep. Chances are you are run down or stressed and need the extra sleep. Just sleep whenever you can.