When I had depression, most of my nights were sleepless and I usually fell asleep around 6 A.M. so you can imagine what a mess that made of my day. I worked part time, had a family to take care of, and a home to run and that takes a degree of stamina and alertness. Those depression days are long gone, thank heavens, but I still have the odd sleepless night. It's not so bad when I know there's nothing to prevent me having a nice long nap later on, though.
In the depression days, my mind refused to shut off at bedtime and I spent almost every night reliving every single moment of my past. Now it only happens once in a while but my mind is at peace even though it won't shut down. Weird! I lay there wide awake all night planning my summer planting or the simple chores I have to complete the next day so it's nothing worrisome. The brain is a strange thing!
When I know I'll need to be wide awake and alert the next day (such as when I would be driving to or from Florida), I take an Advil PM which knocks me out sufficiently but doesn't make me fuzzy headed in the morning. Otherwise, I endure the sleepless night and look forward to a long afternoon nap. No big deal.
I'm a thinker, a worrier, a far ahead planner, and also have a curious mind. Any one of those things will pretty well determine how well I'll sleep on any given night. I had a whole list of things I wanted to get done today but it doesn't look promising that many or any of them will be done. No big deal...there's always tomorrow!
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