Are You Having Trouble Falling Asleep Lately?
The past few weeks, almost every night, we crawl into bed, turn off the lamps, say I love you and good night, and go to sleep. Well, in theory…
The truth is, I’ve been having the hardest time falling asleep the lately. I’m tired; my body is physically exhausted by the end of every day, but for some reason, I can’t fall asleep. My mind starts racing the second my head touches the pillow and I’m thrown into a vortex of thoughts, dreams, anxieties, worries, to-do lists and about a million and one ideas. Do you know what I mean?
The thing is, I never used to have trouble falling asleep. I was always passed out before PJ. But these days, a few minutes after we get into bed, I hear his heavy breathing begin, a signal he’s fast asleep and already dreaming (side note: I love listening to him breathe while he sleeps; it’s so peaceful to me). And while he is sound asleep beside me, my mind starts racing.
Some recurring late night thoughts:
-Did I give Jolie her evening medicine?
-Did I give Riah his evening medicine?
-When is the new season of Locke & Key coming out?
-Ooooooo we should wallpaper the walls above the moulding in the laundry room
-I wonder when the pandemic will finally slow down
-Did Allan have homework to complete?
-We have two things to shoot tomorrow that are DUE tomorrow. How are we going to have time do to all of that?
-The house is a wreck.
It’s exhausting, but apparently not enough to make me actually fall asleep.
Though my trouble falling asleep isn’t necessarily directly related to the pandemic, there has been an increase in insomnia across the country (world?) since the covid pandemic began. In fact, a national survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) found that almost 60% of Americans are experiencing some form of insomnia due to the pandemic.
According to Fariha Abbasi-Feinberg, MD, a sleep medicine doctor in Fort Meyers, FL, and member of the AASM's board of directors, “The rate of insomnia in the general population is normally about 10% to 30%, so it is definitely double what it's been in the past. Some people are worried about getting sick from the virus, but there are a lot of economic anxieties, a lot of societal anxieties now. I feel like the stress level of the country in general has just been elevated over the last year.”
One thing I’ve found that works for me? Randomly, singing the songs to Taylor Swift’s album Folklore in my head. I’m not joking. I start at the beginning of the album and I work my way to the very last song, and the crazy thing is I never make it to the end! I usually fall asleep around song five or six. Sometimes my thoughts interrupt my singing halfway through a song, but they don’t usually last long.
So there you have it. Do you have trouble falling asleep, too? How do you deal with it?
PS: if you’re looking for ways to help you fall asleep at night, here are a few helpful articles:
11 Ways to Shut Off Your Brain Before Bedtime
9 Things to Do When You Can't Sleep Because Your Mind Is Racing