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  • lizzzzardlizzard@social.tchncs.de
    Apr 7, 2026, 3:13 AM

    Hey @autistics ! I have a problem, and wonder if any of you might have similar problems, but maybe, hopefully, also a solution to go with it?

    After intense days, my body decides that what I need now is not a full night of sleep, but intensely processing my stress at 4am. It takes the form of my mind being wide awake, looking for problems to solve. Could be real to-dos, but if I get those out of my mind, it'll reliably find other things to ruminate about.

    Has anybody found a way to avoid that and tell their bodies to go to sleep? It compounds and leads to a constantly deteriorating state after a few nights like that.

    I've learnt about body scans, muscle relaxation and breath work in therapy, but those don't help much: my body is decently relaxed, but my mind is wide awake and racing.

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Replies

  • lizzzzardlizzard@social.tchncs.de
    Apr 7, 2026, 3:18 AM

    @autistics This happens after "bad" stressful days, but also if the day was just full.

    For example, I'm currently on holiday at home, quite relaxed in general, but had the relatives over for easter dinner. Of course there was a rush in the morning with last-minute cleaning and preparation, followed by a lot of socializing. I was pretty spent in the evening, and went to sleep easily, but I am wide awake since 4:30 am (it's now past 5).

    The usual sleep hygiene things are fine or okay: I love my bed, it's dark, cool and quiet, I have a sleep mask: this is usually a place where I sleep well. Just not through the whole night, on too many nights.

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  • wizzwizz4wizzwizz4@fosstodon.org
    Apr 7, 2026, 4:12 AM

    @lizzard I find that reading a book with a plot that matches my mental energy, but then gets more sleep-compatible, helps. (However, if I misjudge the way the book's plot is going to go, this backfires heavily: I can end up getting more distressed, and staying up for much longer!)

    The safer option is to read a book that I know is sleep-compatible. So long as it holds my attention for long enough, this works; although sometimes the impedance mismatch is too high, and it does nothing.

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  • lizzzzardlizzard@social.tchncs.de
    Apr 7, 2026, 4:15 AM

    @wizzwizz4 how do you deal with lights when reading? I'm worried that the lighting will just result in me staying awake. Do you have a dim reading light, or use an e-reader?

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  • DiogenesDiogenes@fuerth.social
    Apr 7, 2026, 8:51 AM

    @lizzard I got a prescription for "Trimipramine", 5 drips in the evening. This helps to stop the mind of thinking around and around, is suitable for long term use.
    Was a game changer for me: going to bed, reading half a hour, turn around, sleep.
    Perhaps worth a try, ask your doctor. @autistics

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  • cybervegancybervegan@autistics.life
    Apr 7, 2026, 1:21 PM

    @lizzard @autistics I've had random bouts of insomnia for most of my adult life. They usually only last a few weeks, but are utterly draining. Something I've found useful to a limited extent - worked for about a year, but then I got burnout and it stopped - was "thought jamming" (my name for it). What you have to do is some mildly hard thinking like making up a constant stream of random things, or envisioning walking around a favourite calm space in as much detail as you can. If you find yourself thinking about anything else, you "just" have to adjust courses back to your chosen strategy. I guess it's like counting sheep on steroids. I heard about it on Mastodon, can't remember if it was given a name, and I was skeptical until I tried it, but it did work for a while.

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