Is your mental health keeping you awake at night? If you are one of the 16 million people in the UK that scream, I cant sleep, every night then this article is just for you.
I haven’t always had a problem sleeping. It started around the same time as my mental health problems, I guess. So that got me thinking about whether my mental health problems caused my insomnia or was my lack of sleep causing my mental health problems?
Everybody knows how important sleep is. However, if you just lie in bed for hours saying I can’t sleep it’s easy to see that you are eventually going to lose your mind.
So last night I did all the things that my doctor has told me to do to promote a good night’s sleep.
- No caffeine after 6pm
- Hot bath with lavender oil
- No TV in the bedroom
- Even a muscle rub of my partner (once in a blue moon)
Sure, enough I fell asleep. However, like most people with insomnia it lasted about 3 hours. I wasn’t impressed to say the least. I was lay in bed looking at the walls and my mind was racing with thoughts of things that needed to be done. The anxiety was beginning to creep up on me and I decided to act and try something new.
I got up and got to work on all the things that needed doing. I cleaned the kitchen, then the front room, emptied the bins and put a wash on. It doesn’t sound like much but when my wife saw it this morning, she was in a great mood, so my day was already off to a good start.
I turned on my computer. I whizzed through four modules of my online CBT course. There were no distractions from the kids. I was on full speed ahead.
By about noon the next day I was beginning to flag. My body was telling me it was time for sleep. I put some music on but before my head hit the pillow I was sound asleep. I woke at around 2.45pm and picked the kids up from school but instead of having no energy I was ready for swimming.
After an hour of keeping the kids happy I returned home to write this article along with another for Facebook. What a day it turned into! It was the most productive I have been for years. I got to thinking, why not try it again tomorrow.
Now I have now successfully learned the art of cat napping, I no longer find myself saying I cant sleep, I seem to have more energy and a renewed zest for life. I’m not saying that everyone suffering with insomnia should live this way. I understand that most people have regular 9-5 jobs and cat napping may cause a few raised eyebrows at work but if this article helps just one person suffering with lack of sleep then it’s done its job perfectly.
I say to sleep well be productive!