Sleep, Sweet Sleep... Oh How I Need You
- lesliecochrane99
- May 29, 2023
- 2 min read
How To Stop Overthinking at Bedtime
60 Seconds Read by Leslie Cochrane, LPC at CochraneCounseling.com
Have you been counting ceiling tiles, or scrolling through TikTok for hours of sleepless nights? When you would rather be resting in peaceful sleep. Most of us can lose a few hours of sleep, or even a night or two before we start feeling the negative effects. After several nights or weeks of sleep loss our brains and bodies begin to suffer consequences.
The negative consequences of sleep loss can be an increase of anxiety and/or depression, loss of ability to focus, irritability, headaches, panic attacks, and physical discomfort. Sleep is directly related to your mental wellness. Overthinking at bedtime is like a vicious cycle of anxious thoughts creating more anxiety in the brain. When the brain is stimulated and you cannot fall asleep, then the anxious feeling increases which creates more anxious thoughts, and the cycle continues until you are exhausted and collapse into restless sleep. In the morning you wake up tired, and the cycle repeats the next night. We try to just tell ourselves "just go to sleep" or "just quit thinking about those things", but that doesn't work and we feel defeated and weak.
To stop overthinking you have to make some changes to your bedtime routine, and possibly to your lifestyle. Anyone can google a list of tips for better sleep; but you need someone who understands the science behind those tips to make them work for you. I can help you achieve better sleep by providing an individualized plan to optimize your environment for sleep. We will discuss your bedtime routine and create a routine that works for you. Some clients who I have worked with were not aware of issues which activated their brain because they had become normalized. Together we will deep dive into the details of your sleep routine and create a plan to calm your mind.
We all know that good sleep is vital for your brain to work at its best. Stop beating yourself up for not being able to force yourself to sleep. Sometimes we all need help to get our thinking back in balance.
