I am a university student who has anxiety about sleep and trouble sleeping somet!
Question: I am a university student who has anxiety about sleep and trouble sleeping sometimes?
Hi, I am in my second year of university and I have a lot of anxiety about sleep. It started last year when I started university and began having trouble sleeping. The worst would be about 5 hours of sleep, but most of my bad nights, I would get between 5.5 and 7. I never had a problem sleeping at all before that, so it caused me a lot of anxiety. I have always had anxiety, and the odd bout of the "blues" but I NEVER had a problem sleeping. I would always get between 8 and 8.5 hours a night, and even more on the weekends. So when I started having trouble, it really worried me.
My "sleep problems" magically and temporarily disappeared when the first term of first year was over, and exams were starting. Every day I could sleep in as long as I felt like, even though most mornings I was up at 8:30. Then, at Christmas time, the so called sleep problems came back. I felt like I was "back to square one" and that caused even more anxiety. I would sleep great some nights, but then others I would get as little as 4 hours. I usually didn't have a problem falling asleep, but I would wake up after about 3-5 hours and have a really hard time getting back to sleep, sometimes I wouldn't even go back to sleep at all.
Before I knew it, sleeping became an obsession of mine, everything in my life revolved around sleep. It was always on my mind! And I couldn't stop worrying about it! If I had a bad night, I would obsess about how I only got, say 6 hours of sleep, and would be mad at myself for not being able to calm myself down. On days where I had a great night's sleep, I would worry about how well I would sleep that night, and my anxiety would trigger a vicious cycle, the more I worried about sleep, the harder it was to sleep, and the days where I didn't get enough sleep, I got anxious from lack of sleep.
In the summer after first year, I went to see a few psychologists about sleep, but none were of any real help. This just made me feel even more hopeless. During Christmastime of second year, my mom took me to see another psychologist who told me the benefiits of exercise and how it helps with sleep. Well I started going to the gym every single day, and made it my New Year's Resolution. I noticed amaxing results, I had significantly less anxiety, and I slept much better. Ever since then, I have had a more positive attitude, which has helped me even more. But one or two nights a week, I still have a "bad" night, which for me is anything less than 7 hours since I need 8 hours of sleep to be myself. So now, even though I'm sleeping much better, and getting enough and sometimes more than enough sleep on most nights, those nights where I don't get enough sleep just really discourage me! It makes me feel that I'm never completely going to get over this "problem." I'm still obsessed with getting enough sleep, and I know that is the cause of my anxiety! But I just can't seem to stop worrying about it! Does anyone have any suggestions? Or has anyone had similar experiences? I already exercise everyday, go to bed at the same time every night, avoid coffee, and eat a bowl of cereal with a banana and milk before bed. I use earplugs and a sound machine to block out any exterior noise and a relaxation tape if I'm stressed. I know I am doing MUCH better, but I still can't seem to relax about sleep! I feel like I'm already doing everything to help myself so on those nights where I have anxiety and it keeps me up, I feel like I just lose hope!
Thanks to anyone who can provide any tips or much needed encouragement!
Cheers,
Ashley M.
My "sleep problems" magically and temporarily disappeared when the first term of first year was over, and exams were starting. Every day I could sleep in as long as I felt like, even though most mornings I was up at 8:30. Then, at Christmas time, the so called sleep problems came back. I felt like I was "back to square one" and that caused even more anxiety. I would sleep great some nights, but then others I would get as little as 4 hours. I usually didn't have a problem falling asleep, but I would wake up after about 3-5 hours and have a really hard time getting back to sleep, sometimes I wouldn't even go back to sleep at all.
Before I knew it, sleeping became an obsession of mine, everything in my life revolved around sleep. It was always on my mind! And I couldn't stop worrying about it! If I had a bad night, I would obsess about how I only got, say 6 hours of sleep, and would be mad at myself for not being able to calm myself down. On days where I had a great night's sleep, I would worry about how well I would sleep that night, and my anxiety would trigger a vicious cycle, the more I worried about sleep, the harder it was to sleep, and the days where I didn't get enough sleep, I got anxious from lack of sleep.
In the summer after first year, I went to see a few psychologists about sleep, but none were of any real help. This just made me feel even more hopeless. During Christmastime of second year, my mom took me to see another psychologist who told me the benefiits of exercise and how it helps with sleep. Well I started going to the gym every single day, and made it my New Year's Resolution. I noticed amaxing results, I had significantly less anxiety, and I slept much better. Ever since then, I have had a more positive attitude, which has helped me even more. But one or two nights a week, I still have a "bad" night, which for me is anything less than 7 hours since I need 8 hours of sleep to be myself. So now, even though I'm sleeping much better, and getting enough and sometimes more than enough sleep on most nights, those nights where I don't get enough sleep just really discourage me! It makes me feel that I'm never completely going to get over this "problem." I'm still obsessed with getting enough sleep, and I know that is the cause of my anxiety! But I just can't seem to stop worrying about it! Does anyone have any suggestions? Or has anyone had similar experiences? I already exercise everyday, go to bed at the same time every night, avoid coffee, and eat a bowl of cereal with a banana and milk before bed. I use earplugs and a sound machine to block out any exterior noise and a relaxation tape if I'm stressed. I know I am doing MUCH better, but I still can't seem to relax about sleep! I feel like I'm already doing everything to help myself so on those nights where I have anxiety and it keeps me up, I feel like I just lose hope!
Thanks to anyone who can provide any tips or much needed encouragement!
Cheers,
Ashley M.
Answers:
One thing you can do is take a natural pill with the hormone, Melatonin. If you buy the 1mg, that would probably be best for a college student that has to wake up early. if you want to sleep for 10-12 hours, buy the 3mg pill. Buy from natures bounty and it can be found at many drug stores like walgreens. Take it when you are calm and about 30 minutes before you plan to fall asleep.