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Chronic Insomnia with little access to healthcare
yallahs April 9th, 2015
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Hi all!

First of all thank you for taking the time to read my post. I've battled depression and insomnia off and on for most of my life. Over the past couple of months I've taken some steps to improve my sleep. Everything from sleep teas to yoga and over the counter sleep aids. Part of my insomnia is bc of depression and ptsd...I've found that some herbal supplements like Valerian & Skullcap help in combination with tea or sleep aid, but even then I still have some anxiety around getting to sleep and sometimes find myself staying up till 5am frustrated because I cannot sleep. I got into the routine of healthy sleep at one point for about a month, but was thrown off bc of jetlag, daylights savings, and family stress. If I was insured, I would see a therapist or sleep doctor for help but unfortunately I'm unemployed and uninsured. Does anyone have any suggestions for me in terms of building healthy sleep habits long term?

Thanks,

yallahs

2
pleasinglyPoetic April 26th, 2015
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Hello Yallahs, and thank you for your question! While a healthcare professional is really the best source for assistance in this matter, I would be happy to offer you some general tips regarding your insomnia.

Consider looking into improving your sleep hygiene. For instance, do you sleep in an environment that is quiet, dark, and thus conducive to sleep? Try not to look at any bright screens (such as televisions or cell phones) before trying to go to sleep, as brightness tends to signal the brain to stay awake. Try to get to bed at a consistent time each night, building a pattern that helps train your brain to know when to try to get to sleep, and when to stay awake. Try to not use your bed for activities other than sleeping or sex; by keeping your bed a relaxing space, your body won't feel the need to be active instead when you enter it (instead, perform homework, checkbook balancing, television watching, etc. in a different place than where you go to sleep).

I would caution you against the use of pharmacological sleep-aids for the self-treatment of chronic insomnia, as these devices are not indicated for treatment of chronic insomnia outside of the care of a physician, and thus run the risk of dependency.

Best of wishes!

pleasinglyPoetic

emidawri April 28th, 2015
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Ditto to saying that you're going to get the most-tailored (and probably therefore helpful) advice from a trained healthcare professional.

Another aspect of good sleep hygiene to consider is your diet. Make sure your caffeine intake isn't too high, and don't eat a large meal too close to bed time.

You can also try deep breathing or visualization to help relax you before bed. Things like this always help make me sleepy, especially combined with white noise wave sounds:http://www.innerhealthstudio.com/visualization-relaxation.html

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